Book 4: Air Reconstruction
by SilverKyo
Summary: Previously was called Everything ISN'T Perfect. The world has been saved from one evil, but it seems another one is rising and breaks out of prison. What can Aang do to stop it while the nations still are at each others throat? Kataang Suka Maiko Teoph
1. Chapter 1: The New Beginning

**Okay, so guys who read this previous incarnation will notice that the first chapter changed a lot from Everything ISN'T Perfect, now much better. I guess this still technically counts as my first story, but i like it. Please review if you want me to keep going with this, it keeps me inspired. Good or Bad, as long as it's all helpful and constructive. i can take it, lol. Still have to thank my Girlfriend for pushing me to continue this after my comp got wiped, she really wants to know how it ends. expect a lot of updates really quick.**

**Disclaimer: Really, if i owned Avatar, would this story really be on this web site?**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 1: The New Beginning

Aang sat on a bench and stared out into the emptiness of the moonlight from the grass in the royal gardens. The breeze was soft and gentle, and he was lost in his thoughts and about how much things had changed over the last couple of days. He laughed at himself when he thought that less than two weeks ago, he had been worrying about how he could possibly kill the Fire Lord and be ready to do it in a matter of two days. Now the war was over, and Ozai was locked away in a prison without his bending, and he could never harm anyone ever again.

The Earth Kingdom was still a little shaky, and wanted a lot of reparations and compensations from the fire nation because of the pain it had caused. The Earth King was doing all he could to quell this and to tell his people that the Fire Nation was doing all in its powers to make things right, and to show leniency and mercy. Bumi and the Earth King agreed on this message, and that showing hatred and anger towards the fire nation, would lead to another war, and how the Earth Kingdom would be no better than the fire nation. Everyone was trying to return to their homes at the same times, jobs being moved and up rooted, homes needing supplies to be rebuilt or reclaimed, As unsteady as things were in the Earth Kingdom, things seemed to be turning okay, and their problems were nothing compared to the problems of the Fire Nation.

Overpopulation from people needing to leave the colonies and return them to the fire nation, economic depression from loss of jobs from so many people leaving the war to return home, and so many war factories having to shut down and fire employees, since they no longer need to make weapons or ships. The Noble Class was already untrusting of the new fire lord and how he rose to power, and even though at the moment the middle and lower classes were happy that their loved ones were returning from the war, it could only last so long before they realized that they were jobless and becoming homeless. Zuko needed to fix these problems quickly before trouble brewed, but lately he seemed distracted, like there was something else on his mind.

"I thought you'd be out here," came a calm and soothing voice from behind him. Aang jumped at the sound of the voice he had been dying to hear for so long. He sat up and turned over his shoulder to see Katara sitting over by the fountain of the fire nation, smiling at him with her usual loving smile that melted his troubles and problems away. She wore a simple blue nightgown that hung at her knees with no sleeves, and as the moon reflected off the pool and onto her skin, he thought she truly looked divine.

He still remembered when she came out to join him by the balcony near Iroh's Tea Shop as the sun was setting, and how perfect everything was. They both expressed their feelings right then, and the moment still made his head spin, and he had to convince himself constantly that it wasn't a daydream. None of his daydreams had ever felt that real and yet surreal at the same time, or actually had any taste or feeling in them. This particular moment was filled with wonderful feelings and tastes, so it had to be real.

Aang stood up and sat next to her by the fountain as the turtle ducks rested in a corner in a small group. He sat next to her and stared into her deep blue ocean eyes that made his knees weak. She stared back into his cool grey eyes like storm clouds that she could get lost in forever, and they sat that way for a long time, not even noticing that they were hand in hand, taking in the value of each other's company they had both greatly missed.

Aang broke first as he pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. He took in her scent and taste that he didn't realized he had missed this bad. Like a cool ocean breeze, with a hint of some indescribable taste he had in his mind designated as love. She took him in as well, him being the only thing on her mind for the past three days. Like the charged and exciting calm right before a storm she was ready to fall right into, be enveloped completely by it, and never leave.

When they finally broke, they just stood there holding each other, not even questioning how Katara had mysteriously ended up on Aang's lap, and neither questioned their disheveled appearance, her with her a nightgown strap hanging by her shoulder, but still covering her and hair fallen out of place, and Aang's shirt which had mysteriously become undone, neither could exactly see the last few moments clearly in their head, or how long it was, but just knew that they had enjoyed it quite a bit.

"I missed you," Aang muttered into her ear as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"So did I," Katara mumbled into his chest as she tried to snuggle closer to him as much as possible, missing the feel of just being near him.

Katara glanced up at him and saw his expression, which seemed far off, his eyes glazed over in thought, and his brow furrowed. She slid off him and questioned worriedly, "Are you okay."

This seemed to snap Aang back to the present as he glanced around and muttered, "What, huh…?"

Katara giggled and Aang flushed as she asked again, "Are you okay, you looked troubled?"

"Yea, I'm just worried. I know the four nations have the capacity to live in peace, our little group proves that, and I think the world can work its way to peace, but it's just so unstable, like a barrel of blasting jelly waiting to be set off by the slightest spark. And I just can't help this unsettling feeling I have like something bad is about to happen. Maybe it's all these meetings that never seemed to end and these stupid nobles who just can't get along and understand the concept of PEACE but-," he was silenced as Katara put a finger on his lips and pulled him close to her. He didn't even realize his voice slowly getting louder and speeding up until he was almost yelling out words without break between them. All of his stress just seemed to burst out of him at once at the slightest question.

"It's okay Aang, they'll get along eventually, these things just take time. It's hard to just accept someone who has been your enemy for the past 100 years as your friend. Look at how I was with Zuko, and some of these generals had been fighting this war for almost as long as you have been alive. Not everyone was raised by peace-loving monks. If any problems arise, I know you'll be there to beat it, because that's who you are. And I will always be here to support you when your morale starts to fall, always. Everything will turn out okay Aang."

Aang just sat there in her embrace and let his stress roll off him in gentle waves, quelling the raging inferno in his mind, "Thank you Katara, I missed you, I missed how you can calm me and make me feel better about myself."

Katara just smiled a sad smile and held him for a little as he muttered about all of his troubles out, which sounded so old, like something a 50-year old politician should be taking care of, not some 13-year old kid who should still be goofing around with his friends. Then again, none of them should be there, but destiny had forced itself upon them, and they had to answer the call. When he was done, she muttered, "My God, no wonder you couldn't sleep."

"It feels so different now, our once steadily growing group has dropped off so suddenly," Aang commented remorsefully.

Katara looked back down at the pond and whispered, "I know, it feels so different. Toph staying in Ba Sing Se to help repairs and meet with her parents. Zuko staying in his palace all the time."

"Except for the visit to Iroh's shop," Aang sighed with content.

"Yes, except for that. And Mai stays with Zuko, along with the Kyoshi Warriors who just want to make a difference and do something by protecting him-." Katara started again before Aang interrupted.

"Hey, it's not like they aren't good at it, I can feel vibrations and they still manage to sneak up on me sometimes." Aang rebutted.

"Ok, fine, I get it, jeez. It just seems weird to me that they want to stay here instead of go home like everyone else did. Like Teo and his dad who went back to restore the Northern Air temple to how it was while still keeping their technology," Katara continued.

"I'm glad they're doing that. It just shows one more step forward in the process of healing," Aang muttered with a smile.

"Me too, but still, doesn't it seem a little weird to you?" Katara asked.

"Not really, think of how they spent the war, doing small time, little jobs for the Earth Kingdom, not actual missions and fighting. They're warriors and missed out on every fight. And things can still be dangerous for Zuko right now, someone trying to usurp his power, so he probably needs the protection. But I'm really glad that Teo's dad took his own personal messenger hawk so he could send invention ideas and schematics to those factories. They really need something else to do, and quick. But why did Teo take one?" Aang asked.

"All I know is his just goes back and forth from Ba Sing Se, take from that what you will," Katara replied with a playful gleam in her eye.

"So where did your dad go, he was here before I left for Ba Sing Se, wasn't he?" Aang asked, a little confused as all the running around and hassle of the last few days seemed to merge together.

"Yea he was, but he decided it was time to go home and help rebuild the tribe, back up to how it once was," Katara replied with a gentle understanding smile.

"I thought people from the Northern Tribe already did that with Paku," Aang answered even more befuddled then before.

"Yea they did, but he's still the Chief, he has to feel like he's done something. Probably has some design ideas he's going to force to be implemented, something ridiculous and elaborate like most his schemes," Katara laughed as Aang joined in.

Aang asked in the middle of their fight of laughter, "What about Sokka, did he go with him?"

"What, and leave Suki?" Katara scoffed, "You should see him when she goes on duty for Zuko, it's like someone punched him in the gut."

This sent up a new roar of laughter between the both of them, as they sat there clutching their sides. After a while and the laughing died down to giggles, and then smirks, Aang grew more somber and asked quietly, "But why didn't you want to go with him? I thought you would be excited to see your family again."

Katara took his hand and looked directly into his eyes while stating equally softly while her cheeks flushed beautifully, "I do, but I wanted to be here when you got back more."

Aang smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist, while she nuzzled her hair under his chin and leaned into him, and whispered, "I know I've been on the run so much lately, having to go and _fix_ everyone's problems. Between the Earth Kingdom, to the Fire Nation, back again, meeting with the factory heads about production, former colonial governors about relocation, and everyone else. I don't know what's worse, fighting the war, or cleaning up the mess it made."

"I know it's tough Aang, I do, but you can't stop now. These people need somewhere there to mediate them, put them on the right course, and until they take their heads out from under the sand, that person has to be you, sitting their pulling on their hair and dragging them out," Katara replied softly.

"Wow, talk about your elaborate metaphors," Aang commented lightly, sending them both up in light giggles. They both laughed as they walked along, Aang was still in a daze from their conversation and wasn't sure where they were going, but Katara knew. Before Aang realized, they were at his bedroom and Katara just kissed him one last time before she muttered, "Now you need to get some rest, you have to leave early again tomorrow for Ba Sing Se."

Aang's smile faded a little as he sat down and sighed exasperated, "I was just there! What could it possibly be now?"

She just smiled and muttered, "Some important decision was made in a meeting that you need to be informed of, and they don't want to send it by letter, still fearing for spies. I know you just got back yesterday, but don't worry, I feel the same way. This time, I want to go with you, I hate not being around you, and it looks like you could really use some time to spend with your friends, not by yourself when these meetings are over with."

Aang smiled as he pulled her onto the bed next to her and held her, resting his forehead on hers and muttered, "What do you think Sokka would say to us going off alone to Ba Sing Se?'

Katara waved this off like it didn't even matter and replied, "What do you think he would say if he saw us right now?"

Aang raised his eyebrow and laughed as he first recognized their skewed appearance, "Good point."

Katara smiled and waved her hand as she said, "Besides, I don't really care what my brother thinks, I am old enough to make my own decisions and if he can't trust me to be civilized while I'm here with you like I am right now, well that's his problem."

Aang smiled back and muttered, "Well, I'm sure he's getting bored of sitting here in the palace too, maybe he can come with us, I can't remember the last I spent time with him. Last time I tried was almost a week and a half ago, and he was still giving me the evil eye for finding out I was dating his sister."

Katara sat up and said, "Whatever you want to do Aang, it's your funeral if he loses it just because we kiss." She said and as she turned around to close the door she just walked out of. A smile spread across her lips as she saw him already asleep, exactly as she had left him, with a wide grin on his face. The sleep had finally gotten to him and pulled him into unconsciousness, he was so exhausted. She must have finally gotten rid of all of his worries when she said he and Sokka could go with him, and with nothing to be sad about, sleep finally got him. She just stared at him for a second, started at the savior of the world and the champion of peace, the hero who had ended the war, but more important than all of that, the boy she loved. She quietly shut the door and walked back to her room to sleep.

As she lay there, staring at the roof of her room, sleep starting to overtake her, she had one last fleeing thought that life couldn't get more perfect then this.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

She lay in her cell, thinking back on all of those who betrayed her and her cause, and of what she could do to right the world, and make the fire nation the supreme nation it was destined to be. Her mother, friends, father, advisors, people, everyone had betrayed her. But they would get their dues, oh they would. But until the opportune moment, she would bide her time until it was just right, just right enough to break out of this god forsaken cell, and her solitary confinement, she strategized and waited. She was covered in a layer of grime, and her hair had grown to the middle of her back, and her bangs flew freely in disarray from not brushing, but she didn't care. Her appearance mattered little in comparison to Zuko's face which she saw on the wall of her cell while she clawed at it. She vaguely remembered it turning red, along with all the other faces she saw, laughing at her, ridiculing her, but they would pay, they would all get it, and she would be the Phoenix Queen. She laughed manically in a way that would make a Banshee cover her ears and flee in terror and pain. Was she insane, probably, but that made her plan just crazy enough to work, because it would need quite a bit of crazy, but if it succeeded, it spelled doom for the rest of the world.

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**Hope you liked the new first chapter and much improved title, please review.**

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**Pretty please?**

**P.S. Really ticked Avatar got moved over to cartoon just because it didn't come out of Japan, pricks.**


	2. Chapter 2: Journey Preparations

**Not many revisions to chapter 2, just a little spelling corrections, couple lines reworked, nothing big. Hope you like it so far and keep reading ;) feels good to be doing this again, been a while since i wrote.**

**Disclaimer: The more i think about this, the dumber it is that i have to say i don't own Avatar**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 2: Journey Preparations

Aang rose early as he usually did with a large yawn. He remembered last night and smiled to himself that he would no longer be alone when he left on trips. Instead of the dread he was feeling mere hours ago at having to leave Katara AGAIN, it was replaced with an overabundance of joy as he walked down to the kitchen to grab some fruit. He obviously couldn't keep the expression off his face, because when he arrived at the kitchen, Zuko was already their munching on a pear, and raised an eyebrow as Aang entered and asked, "Well what has you in such a good mood today. Normally when you have to leave, you sulk and mope for days, kind of like you were when you got here yesterday during the meeting."

"Was it that obvious yesterday?" Aang inquired nervously.

"Only if they knew you well enough to read the signs, like I do, so no one at the meeting saw any different, but I could tell. The way you walked was slower, your shoulders slumped more, your eyes ended up in the ground a lot, and your smile was so fake it almost made me want to crack up laughing. To most people, you would have appeared tired and a little bored, but I knew different."

"Well, last night, I was with Katara and-."

"Oh, so that's why you're in such a good mood. How was it?"

When Aang finally caught on to what Zuko was trying to say, he waved his hands in front of his face as it flushed such a deep red, it made the fire nation insignia look pink, and he yelled, "No no no no no no no, it was nothing like that, and please don't EVER say that in front of Sokka, or he will slit my throat on the spot!"

Zuko laughed as Aang continued, "No, oh dear god no, the reason I'm in such a good mood is because Katara wants to go with me."

Zuko smirked as he said, "And what do you think Sokka would say about that?"

Aang shrugged and muttered, "Hey, he's free to come along, and so is anyone else, but I'm just happy Katara is coming."

Zuko's smile faded a little as he muttered, "I wish I could come on this mini vacation of yours. But I got another meeting with traders of all three nations today, trying to discuss prices and taxes and the such, but will probably turn into another yelling match just like the last one."

Aang walked over and put his hand on his shoulder as he said, "I know things are hard right now, I probably know better then anyone right now, but just know that it's for the greater good, and everything will turn out better in the end."

Zuko smiled a little more as he said, "I know, that's what Mai always says, but it's just hard to see my people getting poorer and hungrier, and…" Zuko was about to talk about his mother, but it was still hard to talk about.

"And…" Aang said, sensing there was something Zuko was leaving out.

"And there's lots of problems going on right now, you really want me to keep going?" Zuko said, but his tone was a little higher then usual, and Aang knew he was lying, but if he didn't want to tell him yet, he would let it go for know. Zuko would talk when he was ready, that's how he was.

"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" was heard as an earsplitting yell throughout the palace, and the palace seemed to shake as some half ran half marched in the palace getting closer. It was a voice Aang had grown used to being mad ever since he started dating it's sister, but he just really wondered what could get him into this mood so early in the morning.

"Wait Sokka, listen to me!" Came a much relatively quieter voice in comparison to the last one, and seemed to be a little frantic and getting closer.

Suddenly, Sokka burst into the kitchen. How he knew Aang was there, he didn't know, all that mattered was that he was about to have a really big headache.

"WHERE DO YOU GET OFF GOING ALONE TO BA SING SE WITH MY SISTER! YOU'VE ONLY BEEN DATING FOR TWO WEEKS! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THE AVATAR, I'M STILL GOING TO KICK YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE-!!!!!!" Sokka yelled at the top of his lungs as he lifted Aang of the ground by his shirt. He pulled his fist back as Katara burst in behind him, and the second she saw the scene, her face grew livid, and in one smooth motion, she bended the water out of the pouch on her back and froze Sokka in place except his head and the left hand that was holding Aang.

It surprised him so much that he didn't fully grasp what was happening until Katara was in front of him, inches from his face, and said in the gravest tone anyone in the room had ever heard, "Drop. Him. Now." Sokka complied, starting to realize just how mad his sister was.

"I can't believe you don't trust me to spend a couple days alone with Aang, and I swear if you say you don't trust him, I'm going to shove a chunk of ice so far down your throat you're going to wish-." She said slowly as Sokka began to open his mouth then stopped.

She was about to go on when Aang grabbed her around her waist and whispered in her ear, "It's okay, I'm fine, nothing happened, lets just calm down and slowly explain without hurting or yelling what's going on. I have enough things to give me a head ache as it is."

Katara visibly calmed and her tension was released as Aang began to massage her shoulders to help calm her. Normally, Sokka would be furious at this entire display, but considering how angry Katara was a second ago, and suspecting that Aang may have just saved his life, and the fact he was starting to lose feeling in his legs and arms, decided to hold off for now and just say simply, "Can you unfreeze me now, I'm starting to go numb. Katara did so and returned the water to her pouch, but everyone still noticed that she left him so dripping wet it looked like he just stepped out of a pool.

"Now, as I was saying before you ran down here and tried to sucker punch my _boyfriend_, Aang has been stressed lately, and I really think he needs some company on these trips, so I'm going with him. But don't flip out there genius, because as I was going to say, you're coming too."

Sokka deflated as the chef brought in meat and mumbled in a semi-mocking tone, "Well you could have said _that_ from the beginning."

Katara eyed him dangerously as a servant brought a towel and they all sat down to continue eating. Suddenly, two Kyoshi warriors dropped down from the rafters as the meat got here and began to grab some food without a word.

Aang coughed and mumbled, "So, exactly how long have you been up there?"

They just shrugged and said, "From the beginning. Being personal body guards, we decided it best if not to be seen, so any assassin won't know were here."

"Wow, you guys are really starting to get the layout of this castle down," Katara said shocked.

"Yea, we follow Zuko everywhere, weather it be behind a pillar, on the roof, under the floors, in the air conditioning vents, we are always silently here."

"Wait, you guys follow me to the bathroom and when I go to bed?" Zuko roared and blushed a little as he said the second part of his sentence.

"Don't worry, we give you privacy, it's not like we're staring at you like stalkers, we're just in the area. When your in the bathroom or getting ready for bed, we tend to check the surrounding area, regardless of weather it's the top of the hour or not, for any anomalies."

Zuko sighed in semi-relief, but still realized all the warriors watched him while he slept, and on some nights, who he slept with. He was glad they wore make-up, otherwise they might be blushing and giving something away.

"Hey where's Suki, I want to tell her that I'm going to Ba Sing Se," Sokka asked as Suki sneaked out of the floor board behind him and stood up and leaned over behind him so she could whisper right in his ear.

"I'm right here." For not being an air bender, Sokka sure did one proud by jumping nearly ten feet in the air.

He landed, already turned around when he did, and yelled, "Where did you come from!?"

"The floor, and I want to come with you," She stated firmly before seeing everyone else raise an eyebrow and floundering with food, "To, you know, protect the Avatar and stuff, not to do anything else, like-,"

Aang just smirked and cocked his head to the side as he interrupted with, "Funny, I never needed protection before, but your welcome to come anyway, as long as your warriors don't mind. I'm sure _Sokka_ wouldn't mind."

Sokka flustered at this comment a little, and mumbled something about needing to pack, as he got up and left much earlier then he normally would have. This obviously upset Suki, who just grabbed a little more fruit and ran after him. Everyone seemed a little perturbed by this, I mean, who had heard of Sokka leaving a meal early without having his 5th serving?

"Sokka, what's wrong?" Suki asked, very concerned as they reached his room.

He suddenly looked up and smiled mischievously as he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in her door, muttering, "Nothing, I just wanted to get you away from them, and I was so excited about you coming, I couldn't think of anything else."

Suki dropped the fruit as she went inside a soon to be _very_ hot room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Soon, everyone finished eating, and they all had to get ready, so Aang escorted Katara back to her room, and if he happened to get a kiss out of it, so be it. They were almost there when they stopped and found a fruit on the floor. Curious, they realized that they were in front of Sokka's door.

"Odd, Sokka hasn't eaten fruit since we were out on the road traveling," Katara said, reaching for the door handle, when suddenly Aang pushed her along.

Katara, went along, although not smoothly, and said, "Aang, what are you doing, I want to know-,"

"No you don't!" Aang replied quickly in a high pitched and shaky voice. His face was flustered as he kept going along, trying to quicken their pace.

"Aang, what's wrong?" Katara stopped and asked worriedly.

Aang went in front and started pulling her along as he said, "Toph taught me the basics of sensing vibrations."

"What's your po-?"

"My point is that these are _NOT _the vibrations I want to be feeling at the moment!" He yelled as they reached her room, and she finally got what he was saying, and also began to flush, realizing that Sokka hasn't eaten a bit of fruit since they got to the palace and it served high class meat, but that Suki did.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"So Sokka, how was packing?" Katara asked laughing while they were getting ready. He had just arrived with his bag in one hand and Suki in the other, in a relatively bright mood considering this morning until Katara asked this question.

He and Suki both flustered as my stuttered, "F-F-Fine, every-th-thing went p-p-perfect. Why would you ask?"

She just continued to laugh as Sokka wondered how much she knew.

Zuko, Mai, and the other Kyoshi warriors were there to see them off. They all waved as Aang said to him, "I should be back in about five days, try to stay alive in these meetings until then, okay?"

Zuko just nodded as they got on and began to fly away, and Zuko left to head to his meeting as the warriors vanished one by one without a trace.

Mai held Zuko's arm and muttered in her monotone voice, "What's wrong, your quieter than _I_ am?"

Zuko stopped and clutched her hand as he said, "It's been two weeks since I sent a private task force _and_ the White Lotus to look for her, and they still haven't-,"

He was cut off by a kiss from Mai, a relatively deep one at that. She pulled away and clutched his arm, resting her head on his shoulder as they continued to walk and she mumbled with the slightest trace of emotion, "They'll find her, don't worry, and she'll be okay, just calm down and focus on this meeting, try not to let it get to you…for me."

She rubbed his shoulder as he bit back the tears and continued on to his meeting, refusing to let his emotions get the best of him, he had a role to live up to, and he didn't want to show the nation a weak little boy as leader, someone distracted by what could be a wild goose chase, but someone who could actually _lead_.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula sat there, lost in thoughts, until she heard voices getting closer outside her door.

"…Yea, he just got back last night. My mom is so happy he came home, he'd been gone since the failed siege on Ba Sing Se."

"I remember she took your dad's leaving hard. But what about your brother?"

"The factory had to let him go, but he isn't letting it get to him, says he'll get another job, along with dad, and their just happy about being together. But I'm worried with this economic depression getting worse."

"Come on, Fire Lord Zuko knows what he's doing, he was taught by the Dragon of the West!"

"And why does that not reassure me? He's been banished for 3 years, came back under false pretenses, and for the past month, I thought he was a traitor. I'm grateful he ended the war with the Avatar, but sorry if I'm a little hesitant to just _jump_ on the band wagon here."

"Your to cynical Ming."

"And your too easy going. I'm here to deliver her her meal."

Azula remembered him, he had given her food before, and she knew from this little nugget of information that he didn't trust the fire lord yet. Maybe with a little persuasion, this maggot could be of some use. She would have to start combing her hair, albeit, with her hands…

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**So, what did you think so far, liking it, got questions, see something that needs to be revised? Well, why not tell me... please?**


	3. Chapter 3: Talks

**I know I'm cranking out these readings and grammar really quick, but that's because these are the shorter chapters. For those who actually are reading this, i hope you enjoy it, and i can't tell you how appreciative i am that you actually read this far. Well, don't let me hold you up any longer. Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Still don't understand who would read this story, call a lawyer and yell, "He stole this story from these guys!" when the site is called fan fiction. you think the owners could just state that anything on this website isn't owned unless STATED and PROVEN otherwise. just seems to make more sense to me. but when does that matter?**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 3: Talks

It was a relatively short and uneventful trip, compared to some of their other ones. It would only take two days to reach Ba Sing Se, so the little group had a very leisurely time getting there. Katara still wasn't talking to Sokka much, and Sokka conversely wasn't talking to Aang that much, while Aang and Suki just sighed and tried to lighten the mood.

"So Sokka, what do you want to do with our spare time in Ba Sing Se?" Suki asked.

"Well, I was thinking we could just walk around the shops and spend some time together. I remember this great place where we could go and eat dinner, and I think we should visit Iroh and Toph, see how they're doing."

"Uh huh, so you had no plans of doing anything with Aang or Katara?"

Sokka just shifted nervously as Katara glanced at him with interest for the first time in two days, "Well, I guess we could go out on a…_double _date."

Double sounded extremely forced, like he still didn't want to admit internally that they were a couple, but Katara brightened up instantly and hugged her big brother, like the only thing she really wanted was his approval and yelled, "That sounds like a great idea Sokka!"

Sokka just smiled a little that his sister wasn't mad at him anymore and muttered, "Well, it's been a long time since we just hung out and I thought, you know, it could be fun, I mean it isn't like it has to be formal or anything."

When they landed that night, all animosity had vanished, as Aang and Sokka chatted about some of these meetings Aang was having and where they should take the girls, while the girls were off bathing at a convenient hot spring Katara remembered from their hidden journey through the fire nation. Their conversation was a little less…civil as Aang and Sokka's.

"So…what were you and Sokka doing for all that time?" Katara asked innocently, but that gleam in her eye told Suki she knew exactly what was really going on.

"I'm just wondering how you found out," Suki muttered embarrassed.

"Well, there was a fruit outside Sokka's door, and he didn't eat fruit the entire time we were at the Palace. So when me and Aang stopped for a second, he used that talent Toph had for feeling vibrations, and well…he kind of felt you guys…yea," She replied, also embarrassed about this conversation topic.

Suki smacked her head as she muttered to herself, "God, I knew that would come back to haunt me. But what about you and Aang, how far have you guys gone?" She asked mischievously.

Katara's face flushed as she replied, "Well, he is only 13, and I'm just 14, almost 15, so we kind of just stop with passionate kissing."

"But how do you feel about him, girl to girl?" Suki asked.

Katara just sighed and gazed far off into the sky as she replied quietly, "Truthfully, if had asked me to marry him tomorrow, I wouldn't hesitate to accept, I love him so much. But we're both so young, so for now, we just have the joy of spending time together, when these blasted meetings give him a break. It's a gift and a curse, that we don't have to worry about marriage or other things along those lines, but still, those urges are still there, and suppressing them is already becoming difficult. As much as we both know it's good to wait until we're of age, there are times when we kiss…it's just hard to stop."

Suki giggled and mused to herself, "That sounds like it would suck, I think I'm suddenly glad both Sokka and I are of age."

"You have no idea," Katara muttered quietly as she sank below the water.

Back at camp, the guy's conversation had also taken a very awkward turn, as Sokka's curiosity began to get the better of him.

"So, what did Katara mean when we left with that whole "packing" question?" Sokka asked, already afraid of the answer.

"Well, when me and Katara were walking back to her room, so she could pack, that's all," Aang added quickly, eyeing Sokka's face quickly began to ice over until he said, "We passed by your room and…well, Toph taught me how to feel vibrations and I kind of felt…"

Sokka flustered as quietly whispered, "Sorry about that, but it's just Suki is just so…"

"I know what you mean, so…when are you going to pop the question?" Aang asked, and to his surprise, Sokka didn't get embarrassed, like he had already accepted this fact.

"I don't know, soon I hope, I just want it to be perfect for her, I want everything to be perfect for her, and I just need the right time to ask, and I need to make the betrothal necklace, which I haven't even gotten to starting on," Sokka replied with an air of worry over his face.

"Wow, that serious huh? Well good for you man, you deserve it. And if you ever need help with something, feel free to ask. But don't you guys feel you're going a little fast?" Aang replied as he slapped Sokka's back.

Sokka's face grew serious again as he replied, "I don't know how to describe it Aang, it just feels right. We just connect and it's so magical, she's perfect, you know what I mean?"

Aang got a dreamy gaze over his eyes that made Sokka wretch and replied, "Yea, yea I do."

"Well while we're on the subject, how have you and Katara been, but no big details, I'm not sure how much of this I want to know about my little sister," Sokka added quickly yet just as quizzically.

It was now Aang's turn to fidget nervously as he replied, "I love her more than anything in the world. I could die happy as long as she was with me every day. These meetings have been hard on both of us, not being able to spend as much time together as we want. You and Suki have had the past two weeks to spend time together, and your both of age, so you have a lot less restrictions. When I get back from a trip, Katara told me she would like nothing better than to just lay beside me for the rest of the night, but we're both still young, and she's afraid how it would appear to the world if it found out I did that at the age of 13."

"Wow, that's rough man. But at least I get to know you guys haven't done anything really serious yet," Sokka replied as he sighed with relief.

"We do have self control Sokka, but when we kiss when I get back, it is pure magic. The depth and passion, and the way her tongue-." Aang started with a wide grin.

Sokka plunged his fingers in his ear as he yelled, "La la la la la, I can't hear you, stop talking now!" Aang just broke out hysterically laughing as Sokka hit him in the arm in a way that reminded Aang of Toph.

The girls came back and they all shared talks of the adventures they had had over the past year, just laughing and enjoying each other's company, as all animosity melted away.

They all left to their respective beds, Sokka making sure Aang and Katara were at least five feet apart.

"Oh no, I forgot my sleeping bag!" Suki yelled in mock surprise.

"Well, I guess you could share one with me?" Sokka said while poorly hiding his grin and the fact that this was totally planned.

"Just get in your tent," Katara said sarcastically with a smile, and they did so without hesitation.

Aang smirked while he lay on Appa with the cool summer breeze blowing around him. Katara laid her blanket 5 feet from Appa's arm, and Aang looked at her curiously.

"You aren't going to sleep in your tent?"

She shrugged as she lied on top of her blankets and replied, "It's a clear, warm night. I just felt like sleeping under the stars tonight."

"But why set up your tent?"

"To get Sokka to leave me alone," She replied as Aang smirked and looked back to the stars.

"I'm really glad you're here," he said out of nowhere.

Katara just glanced at him, then smiled and replied, "So am I."

They all woke early the next morning, Aang first, followed by Sokka, who eyed Katara asleep near Appa suspiciously, but decided to let it go and not start the morning with another fight when last night had ended on such a good note. He pulled Aang to the edge of the campsite and asked, "What is she doing?"

Aang shrugged and replied, "It was a clear warm night, and she wanted to sleep under the stars."

"Why did she set up her tent then," Sokka asked suspiciously.

"So you wouldn't bother her about it," Aang replied coolly and left to get go gather some fruit.

Sokka stood there for a second, a little stunned, before running after him.

Aang kept his cool while Sokka ran up next to him, eyeing him curiously, and asking, "Something else you need?"

He fidgeted and asked, "Well, I was thinking last night and, I wanted to get Suki an emerald, because she always liked the color green, but it's just, they're so expensive. So I wondered…could you make an emerald?"

Aang stopped dead in his tracks as he thought about this for a second. He was the Avatar, so if anyone could he could, but he would need to know more about how an emerald was made before he even considered it. He could maybe use his bending to find a natural one, that may have been left behind from a mined out cave because of its size, he wouldn't exactly need a large one for a betrothal necklace. This did pose quite a challenge, and Aang wondered himself, thinking maybe he could make something for Katara…

"Well?" Sokka asked, a looked of worry and desperation on his face that snapped Aang out of his train of thoughts and remembered that for now, he needed to help Sokka, Katara could wait for a little bit.

"I'm not sure, I never tried to make a gem before. I would need to know more about them and how they're made, or I could maybe find one buried somewhere, but we would need to find a mined out cave of some sort. We would need to ask a jeweler or something in Ba Sing Se. I'll do the best I can," Aang ended with a reassuring smile that helped ease Sokka.

"Thank you, so much Aang," he said as he hugged his friend, and sighed with relief.

Aang wouldn't tell Sokka that this was more than just for him, or how it couldn't hurt to have him be in a good mood with Aang so he would let up a little on him and Katara, but it sure was a nice perk.

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**Please review, even if it's just to say, "hi, i really like your story, please continue it!"**

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	4. Chapter 4: Date Preparations

**I feel obligated to say the next to chapters that your about to read i have to thank my girlfriend for...a lot. She helped me come up with a lot of it, especially during those writer blocks that came up a lot. So if you like them, feel free to thank her too, she would appreciate it. This is one of the longer chapters, so get ready to sit in for the long haul. might want a drink and snacks from your local concessions stand.**

**Disclaimer**

**Need i say more, do i need more then to say i disclaim whatever you accuse me of illegally claiming, you officious prick who cares about this?**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 4: Date Preparations

The next day, the group arrived late at Ba Sing Se. They all crashed at Aang's house that had been given to him by the Earth King for when he visited. They all stayed in separate rooms, although Aang suspected that Suki's bed wouldn't get much use, more likely opting to stay with Sokka and sleep with him. After a long flight, they had a quick dinner of food they brought with them instead of getting something fresh. None of them realized how tired they were, or maybe they were all excited for tomorrow. All Aang knew was that he was happy to no longer be traveling alone.

Everyone awoke early. Katara looked around for Aang, only to find his note that he had already left for the meeting and would be back as soon as he could. This left Katara a little depressed as she sat at the table, waiting for Sokka and Suki to finish breakfast.

"Doesn't she normally cook," Suki asked Sokka quietly, hopping Katara wouldn't hear.

"She wanted to spend the morning with Aang and to wish him off this morning, so it has her a little down. Why don't you, after breakfast, take her out to cheer her, and go shopping for the date tonight, while me and, when he gets back, Aang plan exactly what we're going to do," Sokka replied just as quietly, hopping she wouldn't question him for alternatives motives for spending the day alone.

She just smiled and nodded as she brought over the eggs. Sokka grabbed the basket of fruit and plate of bacon and sausage. They all ate, Sokka and Suki trying to get Katara to talk, but she would respond with either nods or two words, not exactly spurring chat about what's in your head.

They finished and Suki had to almost drag Katara out of the house. "But I want to be here when Aang gets back!" She complained almost like a five year old who you told couldn't get that toy she wanted.

"He's busy, because him and Sokka want to plan our date, so come on, lets spend the day relaxing and getting ready," Suki replied while she pulled on her arm, trying to get her to move. They finally left, and Sokka ran out to go and find some restaurants, parks, and jeweler, hopping that Suki and Katara wouldn't spend too much.

But first, he decided to stop off at Iroh's shop. He entered to meet Iroh sitting behind the counter, sipping tea as usual. "Sokka!" He exclaimed with a jubilant smile, "how have you been? I didn't expect you to come visit."

"I'm here with Aang, along with Suki and Katara. I was wondering if you knew of any place we could go to you know, eat dinner, and have a good time. You've been here for almost three weeks, you got any ideas?" Sokka asked hopefully, not really having any idea of where to go for the double date, even though Aang had been here often, he normally only stayed until business was done, and was currently in a meeting, so couldn't exactly help him plan.

"Ah a double date, you youngsters with your young love, so pure and innocent," Iroh said with a sigh as he stared off into space, into better times.

Sokka stood there with his mouth agape and asked, voice laced with confusion, "How do you-?"

Iroh merely laughed and replied, "Sokka, at my age, there isn't much you don't know or can read into. But for a great place to have a double date, there is a lovely restaurant called the Green Dragon on the other side of Ba Sing Se. It's in the upper ring, behind the palace. When you see the miniature lake with the waterfall, your close, it's the two story building next to it. Lovely place, and the owner is a very nice man who knows his tea, a jasmine man if I remember correctly."

Sokka just sat with a smirk on his face as he sat down at the Pai Sho table, "Thank you so much Iroh, you just saved me a lot of trouble. I'll go make a reservation in a little, but right now, I think I just need a break from life."

Iroh just smiled and brought over a plate of tea and sat across from Sokka and replied, "Well, you can tell me about while we play Pai Sho, but I can only guess that it's about Aang and Katara?"

"You have no idea," He muttered to himself.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Are you sure your okay Katara?" Suki asked with concern while they were walking to the spa.

Katara sighed and replied, "No, I was wanting to spend the day with Aang, no offense. I was even going to try on dresses for him to examine and pick which one he liked best," She said, but then blushed when she realized that was a thought she meant to keep in her head, but Suki, bless her, seemed totally unfazed, so Katara continued, "It's just he works so hard with these meetings and I can see it taking a toll on him, physically and mentally. I really want to give him a day off, not thinking about the problems of the world or these stupid meetings. As much as he tries not to show it, I can see it in his demeanor, which is slowly getting sadder and darker, and it hurts me to see him like this."

Suki just raised her eyebrow and replied, "Wow, I had no idea, but you do know him a lot better then I do. I guess he hides it really well. Then again, I have spent a grand total of probably a month actually with him, you know, talking and engaging in conversation, so I'm not overly surprised either."

"Yea, but I'll worry about that later, lets go in here and make ourselves pretty for them," She said with a smile, trying to brighten her mood.

"If their jaws don't drop, we didn't do our job correctly," Suki replied with a smirk as both girls laughed and entered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang sat in the meeting, focusing on the table trying to not pass out. It was around one o'clock, and there was another discussion of what to do with the fire colonies. The worst part was the big decision they made, the one that he just _had _to be here for, was that they set a date to discuss what to do with the colonies. Yup, more talking.

It appeared more and more each day that Aang was the guy who they would send back and fourth with each sides view, to represent them with their most current decisions. So basically, at every meeting, he had representatives yelling at them saying how wrong the other side was. Every single one.

"They have no right to it, that land is ours!" General Pao yelled at Aang, who rubbed his temples, trying to suppress his rage and headache.

"General, some of the people in those colonies have lived their for the past three generations, and the colonies are larger then the fire nation itself, with almost twice the population. They can't exactly just pick up all of those people and move them back, they have no room, the fire nation is over populated as it is," He replied calmly, trying to not let his anger spill over into his voice. After two weeks of being yelled at, his "infinite patience" the monks tried to teach him was wearing thin.

"Lands they shouldn't have lived in in the first place! Have you seen the amount of refugees in Ba Sing Se?! We're almost at the point we're we have to make people live outside the inner wall and _take_ good farmers land. We're stretched to our capacity, and refugees are still coming from places that were destroyed by the fire nation!" General Shu yelled, equally furious.

"Yes, but the flow has slowed. Now that the war has ended, we should stop getting them soon. And this is also an opportunity to expand the inner wall, nothing wrong with making the city larger. But our problems would be nothing compared to the fire nations', whose people are already starting to lose homes from this depression, they have fewer jobs, and you want to send more people there!? You wouldn't be able to fit all these people in their streets. The Kingdom will get its land back in time," The Earth King said as he eyed Aang, whose fists were clenched and was almost shaking with anger. "Why don't we take a break, and come back in an hour and a half. I think everyone here could use some lunch, I know Bosco could."

They all stepped out and went their separate ways. Aang began to head for the exit when the Earth King stepped in front of him with Bosco and asked, "Would you walk with me Aang?"

"Sure," Aang replied with a small smile as they went to the courtyard.

"You seem tired and stressed Aang. You were about to blow your top at Shu, which isn't like you. Is there anything you want to talk about?" The King asked.

"Its just…The Fire nation doesn't mind giving some of the newer colonies and splitting the land with the older ones. Zuko says it would be a nice experiment to have the two living together, getting along," Aang replied, stressed that the general's didn't accept their plan.

"If I could, I would force the plan, but it would be a bad political move if I went against the majority of my generals and advisors. Some can understand, but most are adamant. It's a matter of pride and being repaid for the grief the fire nation caused. It took me a week to convince them not to take fire nation lands. One step at a time, I guess. Not to mention, some say that it being so soon after the war, the two won't get along. Maybe the Fire Nation is remorseful for its deed, not knowing what was really happening, but there are many in the Earth Kingdom who hold a grudge, and if they provoke a fight, the other side could retaliate, and we have a massacre on our hands. So, maybe in time it'll work, but right now, I can't see it working unfortunately," the King replied solemnly.

"I know, but I just want this business to be done with already. I have enough problems just in the fire nation," Aang replied dryly, feeling that the king was right, but not feeling any better about it all the same.

"I know my friend, I, during the time of Long Feng, didn't deal with a lot of politics, but when I lost the city, it was quite a wake up call. I'm still getting used to my position, but I am determined to be more involved in matters this time, to prevent another Long Feng. But I can't fathom the problems you have, having to deal with the problems of both sides, and at such a young age. But unfortunately, it must be done, because if you don't do it, no one else will, we need you," He replied, trying to encourage Aang.

Aang smiled back, but it was so obviously hollow and forced it almost hurt to look at. "You know," the Earth King continued, "We're all human and could use a break sometimes. Maybe you should take a week or two off. You ended the war and defeated the fire lord! Most people are still celebrating, but you only had two days, if not less, before you were immersed in all of this. Go bathe in your accomplishments and glory. The world will understand, after all you have been through and done."

Aang smiled and replied, "Thanks, I think I will, and soon, but at the moment, your highness, I must go meet with my friends, so I'll see you when this dreadful meeting starts back up." The Earth King smiled and waved goodbye as Aang hopped on his glider and flew to Iroh's teashop.

When he arrived, he walked in and almost collapsed at the door. Iroh saw him and waved him over as he said, "Come, my young friend, come and sit in the back room, you look exhausted."

Aang gratefully followed and sat down at Iroh's private tables, thankful to be away from all of his customers and their prying eyes. "Here, have some tea and fire flakes, just got them this afternoon."

Aang smiled gratefully for the small lunch and replied, "Thank you so much Iroh. You have no idea of what I've had to put up with at these meetings."

"Please, eat and enlighten me, my friend. Talking about it normally makes it easier to bear," Iroh replied with a kind smile as he sipped tea and watched Aang as he eagerly let all of his thoughts off of his chest.

"Any thoughts on what I could do to fix this mess?" Aang asked hopefully when he finished twenty minutes later, already fearing the response.

"I apologize my friend, but I do not. If they were not going to share the land, the fire nation can't leave, and the earth kingdom can't just take it and kick them out, you exhausted a lot of the options, and there never is an easy fix for these sort of things. It's not like you could just make land rise out of the ground or cut off an uninhabited chunk and give it to the fire nation. This is quite a riddle you have to figure out my friend. If I have any ideas, I will be sure to get them to you as quickly as possible. Now, would you care to play a game of Pai Sho with me?" Iroh answered politely after Aang's rant, along with his tea and fire flakes, were finished.

"Sorry Iroh, I got to go find Sokka, we got plans for today," He replied and grabbed his glider.

"Ah yes, your double date, I heard about that. Last time I saw him, he was heading towards the Green Dragon, to make a reservation for your date," Iroh yelled after him as Aang ran out the backroom. He just looked back and smiled in thanks of the information, gave a quick wave, and literally flew out the front door, not wishing to waste any time. He only had 1 hour to finish his business before he had to get back to the meeting.

He found the Green Dragon, and flew to the entrance, only to find Sokka just walking out. Aang smiled and asked, "So, how is it?"

Sokka smiled like he was just made king of the water nation and exclaimed, "It's PERFECT!" it has this great dance floor and this awesome waterfall that you can take a boat and go under, god I wish I could propose to Suki there, and their food is AWESOME! Not to mention they gave me a great discount because I was with the Avatar!"

Aang suddenly frowned and replied, "Sokka, what did I tell you about using my name to your advantage? I don't want people to treat me different just because I'm the Avatar. I should have to pay just as much as anybody else."

"Are you kidding, do you know how much that place costs?! I could buy an emerald the size of my fist for the amount they usually charge! And besides, you are different, so get treated that way once in a while. You want to go see what it looks like?" Sokka replied without even considering paying normal price. You couldn't buy an emerald that big, but you could definitely eat modestly for six weeks on the amount this place costs.

Aang continued to frown as he replied, "Can't, don't have time, we only have an hour to go find out about your emerald, and we need to get proper clothes, hop on." With that Aang bent low with his glider on his back.

"Wait, what? We can't both get on that glider? Can't we get Appa?" Sokka asked, obviously starting to freak a little.

"We don't have time, and I don't want to cause a lot of attention. Not to mention, where would he land without being in the way? And I'd let you fly solo while I used an air scooter, but something tells me that wouldn't work out so well. Now get on!" Aang yelled, obviously pressed for time.

"Yea, like two guys on the back of a glider with one screaming out of his mind is _subtle_," He muttered sarcastically as he grabbed onto the back of the glider.

"More subtle then a two ton flying bison," Aang replied as they flew off.

As it turned out, Sokka did not back down on his promise, and screamed louder then a moose-lion for the entire flight. They landed by a well-known jeweler store, and Sokka jumped off and started kissing the ground, exclaiming, "God, so this is how Toph feels every time we fly and she gets off Appa. Oh ground, I missed you."

"Oh come on," Aang replied, a little annoyed with ringing still in his ears, "I didn't make a single mistake the entire flight. We weren't anywhere near crashing. And was all that yelling really necessary?"

"Actually, I calmed down about half way through. The rest was mostly to prove a point that that really wasn't enjoyable," Sokka replied a little too calmly, obviously hiding how really terrified he was, and not that well, shaking knees a dead giveaway.

"Just come on," Aang muttered as they went in, but before he entered, he picked up a straw hat that was hanging on the wall and put it on his head. Sokka would have questioned this, but was stunned silent by the sight in the room. Every wall was lined with shelves from roof to floor was a gem, each of different size and color, uncut, waiting for some to purchase it and ask for a cut. There were containers that lined the store like isles filled with precut gems of all kinds. Even the counter was basically another glass container filled with precut gems that the lady who sold them stood behind. She just smiled as the two looked around.

After about five minutes, Sokka yelled out, "Aang, come here!"

Aang stopped staring at a sapphire as blue as the ocean and went to where Sokka stood. On a shelf close to the cashier, at eye level, was a deep, dark, vivid emerald. It matched the color of Suki's uniform exactly, but was so bright it was like it had it's own sun inside of it. And it wasn't even cut yet.

They both stared in awe as Sokka muttered, "It's perfect."

Aang stood up and walked over to the cashier and asked, "How much for that emerald?"

"200 gold pieces," She replied, and her gaze didn't waiver as Sokka's jaw dropped. That was more money then they had at the entire South Pole, they didn't exactly do a lot of trading anymore, as all the fisherman went to go fight, but maybe now it was different. "And an extra 100 gold pieces to cut it," she added.

Sokka's jaw dropped even farther if it was possible, looking like it had just come unhinged from his skull, as Aang sighed and took out a very large coin sack. From it, he pulled out six rolls of fifty gold coins each, leaving only one in the bag. Sokka ran over awestruck, but this didn't faze the clerk as if she knew this would happen all along. Aang let out another sigh and one remorseful glance at the large amount of cash, before depositing the sack in his robe again.

He ran over awestruck as the clerk walked past him to pick up the emerald, and asked Aang with a dumbfound look on his face of almost comic proportions as he sputtered, "But…how…where did you get all of that money."

"I had been saving it from all the good deeds I did to help people around the world, saving some of their money from our travels over the past year. I was saving it so I could get Katara a really nice birthday gift, but decided that your needs are far greater then mine at the moment," He replied with a smile at his friend.

Sokka, who normally would have been furious that Aang had horded all of their money while they were hungry for such a selfish reason, was stunned and just replied quietly, "Aang no…I couldn't possibly-."

"You can and you will. Consider this an early wedding present. You love Suki, and you shouldn't put your engagement off just because we can't get the materials fast enough. I have time to get Katara something else for her birthday, but you should get married to Suki as soon as you can," He replied quietly as he looked his friend deep in the eyes to show the depth of how serious this was, knowing how agonizing waiting was.

"But you could just tell her you're the A-!" he began to yell before Aang put a hand over his mouth.

Aang gave him a very serious look and said in the lowest tones he could muster, "No, I will not cheat this woman out of her rightful salary. She works hard like everyone else and deserves to be paid for her services, and I swear if you mention it, you can kiss that necklace good-bye."

Sokka just nodded and hugged his friend, words not able to do just for how grateful he was. This was the best thing Aang could have ever done from him. Aang began to walk out as the clerk came back to discuss how Sokka wanted it carved, feeling like taking some time to meditate and calm down before getting riled up at a meeting again.

Just as he was stepping out, Sokka yelled back, "Wait, you planned this didn't you?"

"Why do you think I grabbed the hat?" he replied with a wave over his shoulder as he flew off, leaving a smiling Sokka and a very confused cashier. Why did he need a hat?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko exited that meeting, still as tired as ever, and walked slowly down the hall, having to focus all of his energy on keeping his back straight, even when he was exhausted, he had to appear like royalty and in control. He kept walking down the hallway, not even realizing where he was going until he reached a room he hadn't been to in almost five years. It was his mother's old room, which she didn't share with his dad because I guess she needed a place to sleep alone at nights when dad becomes unbearable. I mean, to deal with his craziness, she would already need the patience of a god.

He walked around and realized just how little had changed. Minus the layer of dust on everything, it looked exactly the way it did when she left. He walked around and just took in the surroundings. He realized that his mother lived very simply, with just a bed, dresser, closet, mirror, and window. Most royal rooms had something of extravagance. The master bedroom's bathroom was big enough to fight Appa inside! This room was only a little larger then a standard apartment room would be. The only thing of notice in the entire room where two pictures on the dresser, one being a portrait of their whole family, all frowning, like someone had just died. His mother seemed especially sad and depressed, at least in comparison to the other one. When Zuko saw the other, he felt tears start to reach his eyes.

It was a portrait of his mother and himself, playing with the turtle-ducks. It was a lot less detailed then the other one, which took three hours to do, and yet this one was still infinitely better in his opinion. She was sitting on the bench with Zuko on her lap, who at the time had to be only four or five, which is probably why he didn't remember it. It was as if someone had captured the moment so perfectly, his mom smiling wider then he could ever remember as Zuko threw bread comes to the longing animals.

Zuko grabbed the picture and tried to hold back the tears. He arrived where he was heading, the courtyard with the turtle-ducks. He sat on the exact bench the black and white portrait was taken of his mother and himself. He sat there, remembering the better times, and just started to sob quietly and uncontrollably. How he missed his mother, and wished she were here to see him. She must have heard that his father was dethroned, and how the Avatar and himself ended the war. The only reason she wouldn't come and see him would be if…

"Zuko?" he heard from a monotone voice behind him. He glanced up and turned around to see Mai standing at the entrance to the courtyard, leaning on one of the pillars.

"Oh, hey Mai," he replied sadly but unwavering in stark contrast to the tears streaming down his face, looking at the picture again.

She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, which with her spoke volumes, and asked in her usual tone, "Are you okay? And where did you find that?"

"…I found it in my moms room. And no I'm not okay! I should be out there trying to find her! Instead I'm sitting here listening to these old men bicker about meaningless _bullshit_ when she could need me! She could even be…" he yelled as his voice escalated higher and higher with each statement until it dropped off with a small strangled tone, not able to say or admit what he was thinking.

Mai walked over and hugged him as she sat him back down on the bench and tried to calm him down, not wavering in the slightest to his frantic rant. She rubbed her hand on his shoulders and back while he leaned into it and couldn't stop the flow of silent tears he tried ever so vainly to fight back. She whispered into his ear, "It's okay, Iroh and Ty Lee are doing everything they can to find her, don't you worry. She could be anywhere Zuko, but your people need you here, now. They need you to help fix this crisis. Don't worry, your mom will understand when she gets here."

Mai refused to actually admit vocally the time it could take to find her anywhere in the world, or the fact that she may…no longer be of this world. Zuko slowly began to calm down. He got up and whispered, "I better get to the next meeting."

"NO," Mai said rather forcibly and uncharacteristically as she slammed her foot on the ground in emphasis. "You need a break, come on, I'm taking you back to your room, you need to rest for a little."

"But it's important, it's-," Zuko started feebly before Mai cut him off, already knowing that in this mood, Mai wouldn't be denied.

"The meeting can wait until tomorrow, and your emotions are all over the place and you need to calm down. Do you want your country to see you like this?" She answered softly, forcing all the sympathy she could into that excellent argument, which wasn't much, but Zuko still heard it.

"Okay," he smiled as she pulled him to his room. This was why he loved her; she knew exactly how to calm him, always understanding, even if it was in the slightest of gestures.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula sat up in her cage, as she recognized the voice heading her way. It was Ming, but this time, he was much less carefree, the exact mentality she wanted, angry. When people are angry, they're irrational, they say things they don't mean, and do things they normally wouldn't do.

"…Can you believe it!? After all my father did for this country, this new firelord takes over, and he's out of a house. I can live here, but what bout my family?!"

"Calm down Ming. It's not just you, everyone's family is losing their homes. Fire Lord Zuko is doing everything in his power to help. He even donated a chunk of the royal fortune to help slow the depression, something that hasn't been done in almost a thousand years!"

"But my family is still on the streets damnit! After all my father did, he lost his arm, my older brother _died_ for this country, and this is how we're rewarded. The Avatar goes on vacation in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Lord does _nothing! _I'm beginning to question weather ending the war was a good thing!" This statement peaked Azula's interest, the Avatar wasn't in the Fire Nation.

There was a loud noise that sounded like skin on skin contact. Then the other guard whose name still hadn't been mentioned but was unmistakably familiar from before she was imprisoned here but couldn't place it, whispered loudly, barely enough to hear through her steel door, "Don't you _dare_ say that again! My entire family is _dead_ because of that war. My son doesn't have grandparents, or Uncles, or _nephews_ damn it! So you stop this talk _right now!_"

There was silence, and Azula scooted back to a corner, and tried to look as seductive as it was possible to look in this hellhole on her cot. Ming entered and saw Azula and blushed a little under his visor that only covered his eyes.

Azula tried to suppress a smirk as she thought to herself, _"Perfect."_

The man handed her the tray, which she took in her chained together hands and laid it on the cot. She then put on the most sympathetic face she could muster, as she tried to mimic a face another unmentionable would wear when they looked at her and said quietly, "I heard you, out there."

Ming flustered again and replied with a sarcastic tone, "It would have been hard not to."

"Yes it probably would have. Tell me one thing Ming. Do you know why I'm in here?" She asked trying to put on the most pathetic voice she could muster, it made her stomach churn.

"Because you are crazy and a traitor," He said simply, and Azula tried to hold back a laugh at the irony. _She_ was the traitor?

"No Ming, because ZuZu doesn't want people of the fire nation happy. You see, I know how to end the depression, but he wants all of the money for himself, so he locked me away, where no one would know of his insidious plot. If I could just talk to him and try to convince him the error of his ways," She said sadly, hoping that he took the bait.

"But the money he donated from the royal funds?" Ming asked quizzically and a tad unconvinced.

"Decoy," she said hastily, maybe a little too hastily, but Ming didn't seem to notice.

"I knew it, there was no way the nation could just suddenly get this poor. I bet the Avatar is in on it, if he even is the Avatar. Him and his group tried to _kill_ the warden you know; he's a great man. I can help you, I can get you out of here," He whispered quietly so no one else would here.

"How?" She asked innocently.

He smirked and responded, "Now you just leave that to me."

He walked out, and Azula had to hold back her laugh. Not only had things gone exactly as planned, but she had someone else coming up with the escape route, and there was no Avatar to stop her. She could not have dreamed a better scenario. It seemed luck was on her side, and while it was, she would do all she could to not just end the Avatar and his friends, but make them suffer.

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**Like it, hate it, wish this story be ridiculed mercilessly and see me banished to the ninth circle of hell? Tell me so! i'll say thanks a lot, find out how i can make it better, or wag the fourth amendment in your face if your part of the last category, but i would love to contact you none the less.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Date

**Wow, i have to say i am astonished by this chapter. i can see why my statistics would show a sharp decline in people reading after this chapter. i made so manny grammar mistakes, it took me almost an hour to fix it, with one section seriously redone with considerable problems. 20 pages of problems (that's right 20, i hope your ready for it). If you read the original story and kept reading afterwords, my hat goes off to you, you have more patience then i would. then after word i would shove the hat over your eyes and yell why didn't you tell me it had so many problems dang it? I am happy to say that i didn't have to change the parts to bad that my girlfriend helped with, which was about 60% of the actual date and the outfits, but still covered with my poor grammar. if your actually curious, i have yet to take down my original story, and i don't know if i will, i just like this title, but the original is what kept this alive, it's symbolic to me. If you ever need a laugh, find it and skip to this chapter. only other story on my account, so it won't take long to find. now that you have read about my terrible grammar, on with the show.**

**Oh wait, small WARNING (so you notice): this chapter starts to get a bit violent, so be ready for it. i gave it an M rating, time to earn it, yea!**

**Disclaimer: I said on with the show, and I'm not putting it off to humor you people with this nonsense.**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 5: The Date

Katara and Suki walked out of the spa feeling very refreshed and happy with themselves. They still had to go get dresses and make up, and it was four in the afternoon already. They walked around for a while trying to find a nice place, but their luck had gone dry. The one place Katara remembered had relocated, so she was at a loss of where to get a nice dress.

"I know, lets go find Toph, maybe she knows a place!" Katara yelled as she dragged Suki along. Katara had overheard earlier today of a blind girl who was almost solo rebuilding the south wall, which was destroyed in the siege to retake Ba Sing Se, it had to be Toph. So the girls walked toward the south wall, and sure enough, they heard soon the yells of a very familiar and very irritated voice.

"Come on you sissies, can't ANY of you bend a wall 100 yards in the air and make a new gate while your at it?!" She half mocked half challenged the others, who obviously couldn't, and she laughed her usual arrogant laugh.

Soon enough they walked up to the construction site where Toph was raising to wall to its usual height, sticking to the design of the wall perfectly. The rest of the team stood there stunned. Although Toph acted mean and arrogant, they were probably thankful, because she just saved them a lot of work. Katara walked up and waved with a big smile, "Hey Toph, you going easy on these poor men?"

Toph finished her work and ran over as she waved to Katara, "Hey Sugarqueen, how are you and Twinkle Toes?"

Katara, feeling a bit more happy as Toph got close, ran up and hugged her as she replied, "God, it's been a while. I almost missed that sarcasm and nicknames of yours."

Toph struggled as she replied, "Hey, get off. I missed you too, but jeez." Of course, If she really wanted to get out of the hug, she could have just earthbended, Katara knew that it was just her tough act.

"So, what brings you to Ba Sing Se, come to see my handiwork?" Toph asked.

Katara smiled and replied, "Nope, I came here with Aang. And of course, Sokka wouldn't let me go alone, so he came and Suki tagged along. It is good to see you though, how have you been?"

Toph replied, "Pretty good. Outclassing all of these supposed "master earthbenders" has been _really _fun. So how have you all been? How's Aang?"

Katara grew ever so slightly more downcast at this as her smile faded a little, even tough Toph couldn't see that, she could probably tell by her tone as she replied, "He's been really stressed by these meetings, and they have really started to take it out of him."

"To be expected from a thirteen year old in the middle of adult politics. That's why I got out. So Suki, how have you and Sokka been?" She finished that sentence with only the _slightest_ amount of bitterness that Suki didn't pick up on.

Suki on the contrary, seemed to fluster from the question itself, But Toph failed to notice as she replied, "Uh…well we have been…uh good?"

"What's wrong, relationship starting to hit the rocks?" She asked with a little more positive attitude then necessary, but Suki in her embarrassment didn't notice again.

"We've been _very_ good, if you catch my drift," She answered while finding something immensely interesting with her shoes.

"We'll talk later Toph, but I got a question for you. We're going out tonight, totally spur of the moment, and we were wondering if you knew a place where we could buy nice clothes," She asked hopefully, realizing halfway through that she might want to come along, making this "romantic" night a little less so, considering she wouldn't have a date.

Toph pouted, "Yea, ask the blind girl where to buy pretty dresses for dates, as if I know? You're in luck I can't go tonight, otherwise I might not tell you. There's a shop I know of that is owned by this really nice lady who helps me pick out nice dresses when I need them for those stupid social occasions my parents love to drag me to when they're in the city. It's actually really close to Iroh's teashop; go ask him for specific directions, considering I can't really tell you. Wait, you guys smell…different than normal."

Katara laughed at this last comment as she replied, "Well, spending two weeks getting the royal treatment and just coming from a spa can do that Toph. Thanks a lot and I swear we'll spend time together tomorrow in your spare time, just to catch up.'

"That would be nice, I'd like that Katara." Toph replied as she went back to work, The foreman calling her back, and she got into an argument with him about she had single handedly put them a week ahead of schedule and to get off her case. He said something about their being a lot of work involved in rebuilding and expanding a city. Katara just walked away, not even considering that maybe, Toph was being polite and didn't actually have plans tonight, living in the city alone, and working only until sundown. But Toph didn't mind, she knew that they needed sometime alone as a couple and that Sokka liked Suki, apparently a lot…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang sat in the meeting that showed no sign of ending any time soon. Judging by the sun's level in the window, it was probably around five o'clock, and absolutely zero progress had been made on this problem. Aang was starting to get really nervous and anxious, because his date could start at anytime, considering they never had a set time, and he didn't want to keep the others waiting.

He could only stand another five minutes of the same general making the same argument he had heard for the eight time today, but that was the straw that broke the ostrich-camel's back, as he got up and announced, "Well gentlemen, as much as I would _love_ to hang around and be bored out of my mind, you know not making any actual decisions, I have a place I need to be very soon, so I am going to go, but you feel free to stay here and do whatever you're pretending to do."

"You can't just walk out Avatar! We aren't even close to-!" General Pao started to yell before getting interrupted by the Earth King.

"Silence!" he yelled with more force then Aang, or apparently anyone else in the room judging by their stunned faces, thought he commanded as he waved him off.

"But my liege-!" Pao began again before getting interrupted again while Aang was shaking with fury, but the general seemed to miss this at the moment.

"I said _hold your tongue_!" The Earth King commanded, which seemed to snap the general back to his senses as he realized just who he was arguing with, and sat back down while the king continued, "Aang, go have a good time. I'll send you a letter summarizing what you missed, you seem like you need a brake."

"Thank you so much you majesty," Aang replied grateful as he bowed and stepped out.

But as soon as Aang was out of earshot, the general continued again, "But sir, we need the Avatar, how can you just let him leave in the middle of a very important meeting?!"

"Maybe you haven't noticed, he's 13, and he may be the Avatar, but he's still a kid and shouldn't be dealing with this stuff yet, but he has to. I know I sure wasn't dealing with this at 13, and neither were you. And he has the problems of all the nations, not just one. You need to learn how to read people better; he is exhausted and needs a break before something pushed him over the edge and into the Avatar State, which he was close to after he snapped. Would you prefer I brought him back now, shaking with rage like he was a second ago?" The general didn't respond to this, and the earth king nodded, rubbing his temples, "Truthfully, I need one too, so let's try and wrap this up before the sun sets and rises again."

Aang, who had missed this, gratefully flew out the nearest window and headed to his house. Sokka was there already eyeing the necklace he got for Suki with pride and joy. Aang honestly had never seen him this happy before. He walked in and Sokka looked up, walked over, and hugged him again. "Thank you so much Aang, how can I ever repay you for this?"

"Let up on me and Katara?" he asked half joking, half hopeful.

Sokka seemed conflicted by this question and just responded with a very vague, "I'll try."

"It's better then nothing," Aang thought to himself as he asked, "The girls aren't here yet?"

Sokka replied, "I told them to go do whatever they wanted to get ready so I could set this up, so I figure you still got a good hour. Wait, how are you here already?"

Aang's demeanor grew a little sour as he responded, "I don't need to be there to know those old geezers aren't going to make up their minds. They haven't for the last three visits I came here on, at least not about what to do with the colonies. I don't think they'll do anything rash without me tonight. The Earth King is a smart and wise leader, regardless of first impressions. He won't do anything stupid to sabotage this peace, and any agreement they do come to, he'll want okayed by the fire nation first."

"So, if he's so great, why do they even need you to be there?" Sokka asked curiously.

"At first I thought it was because I was the Avatar, but truthfully, I don't even know anymore, I asked myself that the last meeting I was at. Now, I'm going to go take a quick bath and calm down before we go, also need to shave again, just been to busy lately to do it," he replied as he grabbed a towel from the closet and left to the personal bath house they had. Normally, it took almost forty-five minutes to heat up, but being a fire bender can greatly speed up the process.

"Well hurry, I already took mine, and we need to get ready. And you should probably bring this up with the Earth King, ask how many meetings you really _need_ to be there for," Sokka replied and went back to eyeing Suki's necklace with care for a little longer.

Aang was very grateful to be taking a bath, just to relax and ease the tensions these blasted meeting built up. It was also a great time to sit and think, although not for long considering the time shortage they had. After a good ten minutes of thinking and cleaning, he got out and took five minutes to shave the bristles of his hair starting to appear, and even some that were starting to appear on his cheek. There weren't many, but he still felt he should be cleanly shaven for this. All and all, the experience took somewhere around fifteen minutes.

Sokka, when Aang was done and dressed again and had come out, had changed in those fifteen minutes from calm and happy to impatient and nervous. Aang asked what was wrong and he replied, "Come on, we got to go get our own set of nice clothes, and your really pushing it."

"I'm sorry Sokka, but I just really needed that time to relax," He replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Sokka let up and smiled as he replied, "I know you do, but lets go now, alright?"

Aang offered passively, "You know, if you really want to get there fast, we could fly there again.

Sokka stiffened and replied, "NNNNNNoooooooooo. Not that again, and besides it's not that far. Lets just go now."

Aang just smirked a little at his remark and took off after him to the store. He was right about it being only a couple blocks away; it only took three minutes to get there. It took a good fifteen minutes of deciding on the type of clothes they wanted, but it took the people there another good twenty minutes to get them sized correctly, which ended up with them finding out Aang was the Avatar, and no matter how much they begged him, he was adamant about not getting a discount.

Aang ended up wearing a nice yellow top with a green stripe going across the chest and along the hem of his arm like his tattoo and went down and circled his wrists, which was fairly reminiscent of his Air nomad outfit. His pants were in a similar fashion and went down to his ankles, and he wore simple dark green shoes that just covered his foot instead of his usual knee high boots.

Sokka wore a sleeveless blue tunic with a white, winding dragon border going along the seams, along with similar pants, but an inverse of the color scheme. Unlike Aang's, his pants only went down half of his shin, but he wore blue shoes similar to the make of Aang that fit comfortably and only covered his foot.

With their outfits ready and paid for, they walked back to their house. They had about five minutes before Sokka's projected time that the girls would return at. The walked in and sat at a table near the front door, discussing how dull Aang's meeting was and Sokka's necklace.

As it turns out, the girls were about ten minutes later then Sokka estimated, but soon enough they heard the door open and Suki yell, "Sorry we took so long, the make-up took longer then expected."

Aang and Sokka glanced over their shoulders and, much to the girls' satisfaction, their jaws did drop, very far, and they were stunned with silence, and not without good reason, for the girls did indeed look very stunning.

Katara was wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore in the fire nation, but much tighter around her top and less clothes around her waist, having only a blue skirt that went half way down her shins and had cut's along the legs similar to her water tribe outfit, and a black garment she wore under it that went halfway down her thigh, also reminiscent of her water tribe outfit. It was deep blue with an embroidered wave pattern done in a slightly lighter shade of blue, similar to the sky, but a little darker. She wore high heel shoes that matched the wave embroidery on her dress in color. Her hair hung loose around her head in the way that she had in the fire nation that Aang loved, but the barrettes she had also had the wave symbol like the water nation that matched the rest of her outfit. She had a deep blue eye shadow that matched her eyes.

Suki, on the other hand, wore a very tight full body green dress that had a flower design shaped like a panda lily, but in a multitude of colors that changed in a pattern that someone had used a broken rainbow as the embroidery color scheme, and it blended and transitioned perfectly. This dress also had a similar slit for mobility, and she wore similar black thigh shorts as Katara. She wore green high heel shoes to match the color of her dress. She had her hair drawn back in a tight bun, but left her bangs to frame her face, but from that tight bun, the ends of her hair fanned out in an arc that reminded Sokka of her Kyoshi fan. She wore a bright, vibrant green eye shadow and scarlet lipstick.

The boys stared blankly, stunned by their dates, and Suki asked, "So, how do we look?"

The only form of answer both boys could muster was a simple nod; both of their mouths still agape.

The girls giggled and grabbed both boys by their arms so that they walked arm in arm as couples next to each other. Aang was the first to restore brain function and he forced out a much unsatisfactory and unworthy, "You look…amazing." Proper adjectives to describe Katara eluded him.

She turned and smiled slightly down at him, even though he was now almost as tall as her from a recent growth spurt, with the smile that made Aang's knees go weak and hard to move, but he still managed to keep pace, somehow.

Sokka, on the other hand, seemed to be getting a larger grasp on his adjectives and head, said to Suki, "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and that fails to describe you adequately."

Suki blushed furiously and muttered, "Thanks," as she pulled Sokka closer.

They arrived at the Green Dragon and was welcomed by the manager, much to everyone's surprise, except Aang, and said, "Welcome Avatar and guests, we have a table by the window and balcony reserved for you. Please follow me."

The girl's were shocked by how much they put into this, and Sokka smiled happily, but Aang seemed a little unhappy. The manager sat them down and said, "A waiter will be with you in a little bit, I do hope you enjoy yourself, if you need anything, please ask me," and walked away back to what they assumed was his office.

"Wow, this is great guys, look at this view!" Suki exclaimed. They had a table on the second level in the corner in the back, by a window. The wall was made out of glass, and a couch wrapped around the sides not by the glass wall as seats, facing the glass wall windows. Normally, there would be four seats on the other side of the table, but the manager had them removed so as not to obstruct the view. Even the table was made out of glass, along with the utensils.

"Yea, I got us a private booth," Sokka replied with pride.

"Aang, is something wrong?" Katara asked.

Aang replied a tad bitterly, "We only got this table because I'm the Avatar. We shouldn't be getting this special treatment."

"Think about it like this, now you won't have people staring at you and bothering you because you're the Avatar, we're pretty secluded from the rest of the restaurant with this high rise couch," Sokka answered happily.

"Yea, I guess," Aang muttered, still a little depressed.

Katara put a hand on his shoulder and said to him, "It's not all that bad to be the Avatar Aang, and it's not like we forced him to, he was just being generous because of all you have done for the world, and this is his small way of thanking you. So please try to enjoy it, for me?" Katara said the magic words, for her, because Aang would do anything for her.

He brightened up and replied, "I guess your right, it's not that bad to accept others generosity once in a while."

The waiter came and started them all off with tea that was delicious, but not as good as Iroh's, but his tea is very challenging to beat. Then they all took their orders, Suki had moose-lion stake with a side salad, Katara and Aang having stemmed vegetables with noodles and a fruit salad as a side, and Sokka got a barbequed salmon sandwich with a side of potatoes cooked in thin strips, a very rare delicacy. Everyone fully enjoyed their food and as they sat discussing various adventures they had and their good childhood, even Aang who after a little provocation was joyful and happy like the rest of them, sharing stories of the Air Nomads that the others hung onto every word curiously.

Suki muttered to herself when her plate was done and she looked out the window at the lake, "Wow, that lakes looks really beautiful."

Sokka suddenly got very serious all of the sudden and grabbed Suki by her arm and pulled her out, announcing, "Come on, I just got an idea."

"Wait Sokka!" Katara tried to call and go after him, but Aang held her back and gave her a reassuring smile and said to her, "Don't worry, he knows what he's doing. Come on, let's go to the balcony and watch."

Katara, without questioning him, followed Aang out to the balcony. They watched as Sokka pulled Suki over to the boat service, which was free and complimentary, and rowed them out to the lake.

"Sokka, what are we doing out here?" Suki asked curiously, looking at how the lake began to sparkle with the reflection of the light.

"You'll se-…oh come on, no no no, not now!" He yelled looking at the sunset, as a large cloud was going over it and sure enough, covered it. Sokka kept rowing out to the waterfall, a little more dejected, but still determined.

"Well, we can't be having that, now can we?" Aang asked to no one in particular and cracked his neck and knuckles as Katara raised her eyebrow, eyeing him curiously.

"Aang, what are you doing?" She asked as he took a horse stance, but he was already focused on the cloud and didn't hear her. He brought his hands together, parallel to the ground facing the cloud as him muscles began to clench and strain.

"Come on, come on," Aang muttered to himself as his hands began to slowly pull apart, and as he did, the cloud also came apart, shinning a ray of sun right on Sokka and Suki.

Sokka's head jerked to the cloud, noticing the cloud seeming being pulled in half. "What in the…?" he muttered to himself and looked over his shoulder, spotting Aang in a horse stance, concentrating very hard on what Sokka could only assume was the cloud. Sokka stopped rowing, being within five feet of the waterfall, and focused on the cloud, muttering, "Come on, come on Aang." Suki also turned around in amazement to watch.

Katara watched in awe as sweat began to appear on Aang's brow. "Just a little more," he muttered as his arrows began to flicker and glow blue. Katara stepped behind him, so as not to alert the rest of the restaurant to his glowing, some were already beginning to stare curiously. The cloud split even more, almost illuminating the whole lake.

"Come on, just give me a little more," he said in his normal voice, but his tattoos began to glow a furiously bright almost blinding blue. His hands at this point were in front of his armpits, almost tucked in them, and his hands began to go outwards and straighten out from him at the same time, still ever so slowly.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed open, also a vibrant blue, and he quickly finished the move, shooting his hands away from him to be parallel to the ground and sticking outward left and right, and the cloud split in half, not only illuminating the whole garden that contained the lake, but all of Ba Sing Se, bathing it in sun. Instantly, the glow faded and Aang stood up normally and heaved a heavy sigh, leaning against the railing for support. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and turned to face Katara, still in a state of awe and wonder and leaning what appeared casually on the railing and said to her, "You know, that was made of water, you could have helped me."

She just smiled and stood next to him, facing the lake, and replied, "Thanks for the compliment, but it took all of your might in the Avatar state, I doubt I could have done much to help."

"That didn't mean I didn't want any," he joked sarcastically and continued, "I never tried to move something that large from so far away, let alone split it," he muttered, smiling to her.

Her brow furrowed as she asked, "What's Sokka doing?"

Sokka had, when Aang had completed the splitting of the cloud blocking the sunset, punched the air and yelled out a jubilant, "Yes!" He turned and saw Aang leaning against the railing, breathing heavy from this angle, although he appeared to be hiding that from Katara. He just smiled and gave silent thanks, and Aang smiled back as a welcome with a thumbs up, turning around to talk to Katara.

Sokka turned back around to face Suki, and breathed a heavy sigh, getting mentally prepared for what he had to do. Suki, on the other hand, was sick of sitting on the sidelines and asked, "Sokka, _what_ is going on?"

Sokka responded by getting on his knee in front of Suki, who let out an audible gasp, realizing what he was doing. He held her hand and said, "Suki, from the moment I laid eyes on you, I fell for you, and I knew from the bottom of my heart that you were the one. The time we have spent together over the past month has just confirmed that belief, and I can't think of anyone else I would rather spend my life with."

With that, he smiled even wider and pulled out a black box as Suki's eyes began to water. He opened the box as he asked her, "Suki, will you marry me?"

"Oh-, oh my god," she stammered with a hand on her mouth as she picked up the betrothal necklace. It was bright green hanging from a green band to match it. It gleamed in the fading sunset like a thousand suns where inside this one little gem. It was a flat disk, like all water tribe betrothal necklaces. The emerald was engraved a sword with a fan on resting on the top of it. The bottom half was etched to look like the waves of an ocean with the sword and fan on top of it, but in the top half was etched a dragon that resembled the Unagi that circled around the two, but much more calm and tranquil, and it's body wrapped once around the sword once and it's head rose above the tip. She rubbed her thumb across the emerald to make sure it was real, and gasped.

She looked from Sokka to the necklace and back again, tears starting to spill in joy as she replied in the loudest and most joyful voice Sokka had ever heard out of her, "Yes! Yes Sokka, yes I will, I'll marry you."

They both embraced, albeit very awkwardly, considering they couldn't stand still being on a boat, but they did anyways, and Sokka whispered in her ear, "Thank you, thank you so much. I love you Suki."

Katara gasped as she and Aang watched the scene. Katara asked in a quite voice, "Did they just-?"

"Yup," Aang replied simply. He would have continued the conversation when he heard someone clear his throat behind him.

Aang turned around, Katara still being in a state of shock, a lot happening in the last couple of minutes, to see the manager of the store who bowed and muttered, "Excuse me Avatar, but what is happening. I heard from some guests about a blue light coming from out here, and I find you, would you care to explain."

Aang shrugged and replied, "Sure, just two things. One, don't bow, there's no need for that, and two, please call me Aang, no need to be so formal. And we're out here because my friend down there just proposed."

The manager, a little stunned at this bit of information, looked down to see the two in the boat, still holding each other, and had to resist the urge to bow as he replied, "Congratulations Av-, Aang, but that still doesn't explain to blue light."

Aang shrugged again, keeping it cool and underplaying his next remark of, "Oh, just had to move a cloud that was blocking the light to make the scene better for my friend. Well, more like split, but you get the idea. May have gone into the Avatar state for a little bit, no big deal."

With that, Aang turned back around, leaving the manager quite stunned silent. He didn't even respond or bow, opting instead to turn and just walk slowly out, his hands shaking a little as he thought, "Moved a _cloud_, that's insane! And if I remember correctly, he could have destroyed my whole restaurant in the Avatar state! Better brake out the beer and champagne for his friend to celebrate, I could sure use some right now…"

Katara and Aang both suddenly gasped and dropped their jaws simultaneously as Katara said, "Aang, are you seeing what I'm seeing."

Sokka pulled away from Suki and whispered, "Suki, you got to see this," a look of shock on his face.

Suki did pull away and gasped in shock as she stuttered, "I-it's…a rainbow?"

Sokka just nodded stunned as they stared at the rainbow that appeared around them, going from close to the far shore across the lake and to the top of the man made waterfall.

"Do you think it's a sign?" Suki asked in a quite voice.

"If it's not, then it sure is an odd coincidence," He muttered just as quietly to her. The light reflected where the water from the waterfall meets with the lake, causing that and the resulting mist to reflect off the water and make the rainbow look as if it was made to go around them. It truly was a feat of architecture and science, but for now, Sokka would let Suki stay stunned. That manager is a crafty genius, and Sokka was really glad he asked about the lake.

After a good twenty minutes of watching the sunset and the rainbow, which was slowly starting to fade, as the sun was almost gone, Sokka began to row back to shore. Somehow, Aang had ended up holding Katara around the waist close to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder while they watched this perfect and serene moment, but truthfully, neither really cared. They both went down to the grass to meet Sokka and Suki as they exited the dock.

Katara ran up and hugged Suki, while Aang just gave Sokka a handshake. Katara and Aang said their congratulations, Aang calmly already knowing it was coming, and Katara very excited and ecstatic. Aang whispered to Sokka, "Did you plan that rainbow thing?"

He whispered back so the girls wouldn't hear them, "Yea, the manager told me about it, happens everyday."

Aang whispered back with a smile, "Nice touch, so that's why you were so eager to get down there quickly."

"Thanks, but it wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for you and that cloud," He whispered back as he gave Aang a pat on the back.

Suddenly, Katara wheeled on Sokka with a quizzical look and asked, "How much did this _cost_, and where did you get the _money_ for it?"

Sokka smiled and replied, "Ask your boyfriend."

The girls stared stunned at Aang while Aang stared stunned at Sokka who finally called Aang Katara's boyfriend, and Sokka just shrugged.

"What's he talking about Aang?" Suki asked, now also very curious.

"Well, I have been saving money from our good deeds over the past year to get Katara a birthday gift when it rolled around, and get her something really nice, but that necklace was custom made and cost three hundred gold coins, which was almost all I had saved. It was worth it though, because Sokka really needed it, and I can tell it was money well spent. Just consider it an early wedding gift," He answered scratching the back of his head nervously and smiling.

Suki was the first one to hug him and say thanks, followed by Katara who kept saying how sweet that was. Sokka just nodded, having already said thanks. Aang just kind of patted them both nervously on the back; with two pretty women on his left and right, and not sure how much Sokka liked his fiancé holding him this close. Suki let go, seeking refugee in Sokka's arms again as they walked together and Katara followed.

They walked back in through the back sliding door of the restaurant only to be greeted by all the staff and customers standing there, clapping for the new young couple. These people who didn't even know them where happy for them, and this helped Aang realize just how well off the world was, and how peace was worth it. Before he couldn't see the strangers he saved, but now there were all these kind people living happily and excited for people they didn't even know, and he could put smiling faces to the people he saved, and it made Aang feel overwhelmed with joy.

The manager pulled Aang over and whispered to Aang, "I have the best band in the city coming to perform for your friends, and the bar is open for the entire restaurant, so drink as much as you want. Is there anything else you want?"

Aang thanked him immensely for his generosity and was about to say no, when a thought struck him. He pulled the manager into his office and swiped four sheets of paper and the ink and said, "Actually I do need a favor. I have two friends in the city that I would love to join us. Here are directions on how to get to their separate estates and letters for them, can you send to people to go and get them."

The manager smiled and replied, "Consider it done, Aang."

"I can't thank you enough for your generosity," Aang replied and walked back out to join the party, where champagne and beer were being wheeled out on carts filled with ice for everyone to enjoy, who was of age of course, which Katara found out the hard way.

"What do you mean I have to be 16?! My bother is engaged!" She yelled at a defenseless waiter, who cringed and tried to hide behind his tray, barely looking over the rim of it.

"I am sorry miss, but that is the law," he replied feebly, already knowing that that wouldn't stop her, praying that it wouldn't hurt that bad.

"Why I aught to-," she started as she reached for the nearest glass of water before Aang grabbed her wrist, arriving just in time for the poor waiter.

"Katara, you can't just ask this man to break the law. Come on, lets be happy, your brother is engaged," Aang whispered in her ear, making her shiver, her rage deflated.

"Your lucky he's here," She said simply, wanting to get the last statement in, although she didn't have to tell the waiter, who was brimming at Aang like he was a god, which being the Avatar, was as close as any mortal was going to get to being a god. Aang just smiled back at the man quickly while he pulled Katara back to their booth and, once inside, kissed her deeply on the spot.

He pulled away after only a couple seconds and muttered, "You have no idea how long I have been wanting to do that."

"I have an idea," she whispered back playfully and continued their kiss.

They were going on for a good half of a minute when they heard a voice from behind Aang, which unfortunately belonged to Sokka, who grabbed him by the wrist and stated, "Hey Aang, I need your help with this," pulling him away leaving a pouting and unhappy Katara,

"Hey, what happened to letting up!?" Aang shouted as he was dragged across the room.

"I said I would try. And besides, I really do need your help with something," Sokka replied as he reached the back door again.

"Well it better be damn important, I just moved a cloud for you if you happened to have forgot, and I haven't done that since before I went to bed last night!" Aang yelled, wrenching his hand from Sokka grip as they stopped on the grass outside the door.

"It is. Do you think you could make dance floor out here with earthbending? It's just it's such a clear night, and it would be perfect to dance under the stars then try to pack everyone in there and move all of the tables," Sokka looked at him pleading, hoping Aang was in a good enough of a mood to do it.

Aang folded his arms and stared at Sokka, who did his best pleading puppy dog face he could muster. Finally Aang broke and sighed, "Move."

Sokka eagerly did as he commanded, while Aang walked across the grass, trying to take everything in for the maximum sized dance floor. Aang suddenly stopped, turned around, lifted a large chunk of the ground, roughly the size of the royal palace courtyard, flipped it upside down, and put it back, then hardened the top layer of rocks so it was a nice smooth dance floor, with a stage under the trees and everything, connecting right up to the door leading to the restaurant.

Sokka stood there stunned at how quick he finished it like it was nothing while Aang walked past him and muttered, "Now, if _you_ don't mind, I'm going to go back in and enjoy myself for another ten minutes. And _no_ interruptions, no matter what, whatever it is, it can wait."

Aang stepped in, only to run almost headfirst into the manager, who yelled, "What was that noi-?" He began to ask before caught sight of what happened to his grass outside. "What happened?!" He yelled.

Aang, getting really tired of these interruptions, answered quickly, "Outdoor dance floor, great night, grass is fine, will change it back before I leave." He walked past the still speechless manager and back to his booth where Katara was waiting, looking out the window at the new dance floor.

"So that's what Sokka wanted," She muttered as she turned around to face Aang.

Aang replied playfully, "Yup, now where were we?"

In about ten minutes Iroh and Toph arrived to find Suki and Sokka being thanked still by people all around the restaurant, gratefully accepting champagne glasses. Toph flinched at the sight, still in her usual outfit, and Iroh just smiled in the complicated robe he wore when everyone came to visit his shop after the war, and whispered to her, "He may not feel the way about you that you do, but if you truly like him, at least as friend, try to be happy for him. You know there are always others."

"Yea, yea. It's just not as easy as you make it sound old man," She said a little bitterly, as she walked in to thank Sokka and Suki who beamed when they saw her. Iroh smiled warmly and followed behind her, accepting some jasmine tea.

They all excused themselves to go sit at the table, where Katara and Aang where quickly fixing their appearance before they got there so they could all chat and catch up. Aang was suddenly very grateful that Katara didn't wear any make up, noticing Sokka who had a little light shade of red on his lips, because Aang's entire neck and lower half of his face would have been red.

They talked about how well Iroh was doing with his shop, and how much work Toph had done fixing the city, "near single-handedly" she says, although everyone knew she was just being arrogant. Soon enough, the band arrived after another fifteen minutes and set up within another five. Quickly enough, the band called for the soon-to-be bride and groom to be to come and perform the first slow dance. Sokka was already a little buzzed, so he stepped on Suki's feet, but only a little bit. After that song was done, other couples got on the floor, and the rest of the group, except Toph, watched.

Katara got up, extended her hand, and asked, "Care to dance Aang?"

Aang laughed as he accepted her hand and stood, replying, "I thought I was supposed to be the one who asks?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

They reached the dance floor and danced to another soft slow song. Aang wrapped his hands around her waist, and she did the same, resting her head on his shoulder. While they danced, Sokka and Aang made eye contact, and Sokka mouthed clearly to him, "Your hands go any lower, I cut them off." Aang gulped and kept dancing, making sure his hands stayed in their spots.

After a good three minutes of this Aang stopped and pulled Katara to the lake, which was only a good ten feet from the edge of the dance floor. Katara followed, surprised, and asked, "Aang, what are you doing?"

By now, night had fallen, and the stars shone brilliantly on the lake, along with a crescent moon. Aang just held her the way he had a second ago when they were slow dancing and replied with a whisper in her ear, "Trust me."

She blushed, still confused, as they danced by the edge of the lake, and that went on for a good thirty seconds before Aang whispered to her, "Close your eyes." She did so, and they danced on, but about five seconds later, the ground went a little cold, but they kept dancing. Katara looked down and saw that Aang was leading her out into the lake! She gasped and watched the water turn to ice right before they stepped on it, then melt away when they lifted up. And he did all of this without any hand motions, pure mental thought or so it appeared to her.

"Aang, this is amazing…" She whispered as they got closer to the waterfall, but right when they got close to the mist, he would split it for them, along with the mist from the waterfall.

"I just wanted to do something special for you while I could, because I spent your birthday money, and I don't know if I can go earn some more, with all of these stupid meetings," He told her as he smiled that wide, joyful smile that made Katara's head spin and go cloudy with thoughts.

She kissed him on the cheek and replied reassuringly, "This is a wonderful gift, thank you Aang. And I'm glad you spent that money on Sokka, it was really sweet of you, and I love this gift."

Aang smiled and scratched the back of his head as he replied, "Well, I probably would have done it anyway eventually, but this works out nicely."

She laughed as they continued to dance to the music, when it suddenly started to pick up the pace. They stop and looked at the stage to find that most people where watching them in awe, except Suki and Sokka, who were still enthralled with each other, the only notice either one of them gave was when Sokka muttered to himself, "Pfft, show offs."

"Hmm?" Suki asked, still staring at his face contentedly, not really listening.

"Nothing Suki, lets just dance," He said as they began to speed up their dance to something more lively, that sort of resembled the tango.

Katara and Aang just stared back at the people looking at them, standing there, when Katara whispered, "It's like they want to watch a show."

"Well, lets give them one then," Aang replied and also started something reminiscent of their dance in the cave with the school kids, but this time they bended water between them.

Iroh and Toph, conversely, sat on the edge of the dance floor, chatting and watching. Toph letting her feet dangle off the ground in the chair. Suddenly, a little boy around Toph's age walked up to her and asked, "Hi, wanna dance?"

She smiled politely and replied, "Sorry, I'm waiting for someone."

"Okay," he replied simply, and walked back to his mom sitting across the dance floor.

Iroh sighed and said, "You have to move on eventually my child, and time with another can help fix that."

"I know, and I will, but I can still hope he could see me in the corner and ask me to dance, as a friend, so I'll keep my hopes up, just for tonight," She replied, smiling sadly.

Iroh just shook his head, knowing she couldn't see him, and let it go, steering the conversation back to how she could possibly learn to play Pai Sho blind.

Suki glanced over to Toph talking to Iroh, and whispered to Sokka, "You should ask her to dance, she looks bored."

"Aresh you kidding me?" He replied, the alcohol starting to get to him, "Shez hates dancing and all of thish party _crap_." Suki sighed, able to see what Sokka couldn't, her heart going out to the poor girl.

Aang and Katara, on the other hand, had made their dance a little more complicated. At the moment they were weaving in and out and around each other, Katara sliding on ice she made under her feet, and Aang rode an air current. They meet together in the middle of the lake, grabbing each other by the forearm and turning around to face each other, Aang sending her in a twirl, grabbing her and pulling her close with his other hand.

To Katara's surprise, they began to rise up in a tornado of fire as they spun around, still dancing on a platform of earth at the top of that, but no one saw that through the spinning flames. To them, it appeared they were dancing at the top of a spire of flame.

Then Aang grabbed Katara again and pulled her close and whispered quickly in her ear, "Hold on," Then, they began to plummet down into the fire, which sank with them into the water then burst, turning the entire lake into steam. In the middle of the steam, at the bottom of the lake, Aang kissed Katara quickly and passionately on the lips, then broke as they rose up on an air current, the steam turning back to water and filling the lake back in under them.

When they reached the surface of the newly remade lake, the rose to a horde of cheering and applauding at the spectacular show, but no music, which seemed to have stopped playing at the sight of the finale of the show, like the couple cared, they didn't need music to have fun like that, they were lost in the moment. Katara and Aang gathered their breath, waved, and smiled at the crowd. Katara whispered, "What was with that kiss?"

Aang laughed softly as he replied, "After watching you dance so seductively, I had to go somewhere private to snake a kiss, and surrounding us with a lake of steam seemed to work out fine to me."

Katara giggled and said, "I wondered if you noticed how I was dancing."

"It was hard to miss."

They both took a quick bow, and as they rose, so did a circle of flame that rose in a circle around them to their waist and followed them back to shore as they walked on ice, hand in hand. When they set foot on the shore, they received a multitude of various comments on how amazing and spectacular that was, how no one had ever seen anything like it. Aang snaked an arm around her shoulder, Katara around his waist, as they smiled and accepted the praise with gratitude, still trying to calm their heart rates down. Katara whispered in the middle of it, "How did you make us walk on water without bending?"

"I didn't, bended with my foot," he whispered back.

Sokka began to walk over, and Aang was already beginning to apologize, "I'm sorry, I know it's your night, but we just got caught up in the moment and my hand had a mind of it's own and-,"

"THASH WAS AWSHEM!" he yelled and hugged them both. Aang sighed with relief while Katara giggled at that last comment that only she really heard, and felt.

Suki walked over and pulled Sokka off them, who muttered to himself, "Heeeeeeeyyyyy, itsh Suki everyone! When did shesh get herez, I really likes her."

Suki shook her head while Aang and Katara laughed, and let Sokka lean against them for support while they walked over to Iroh and Toph.

Iroh was clapping and Toph just kind of sat there wondering what she missed, not being able to sense vibrations, which wouldn't have helped with the water anyway. Sokka glanced up at Toph and said, "Heeeeeyyyy, itsh Toph! Glad youz could makesh it, I mished youz," And kissed her on the cheek.

Toph blushed fiercely and Iroh smiled for her, her wish being fulfilled, albeit alcohol induced. Aang and Katara were stunned, never seeing Toph blush like this. Sokka was already off talking to Yue, and Suki smacked her forehead as she mumbled, "Do you want to end this engagement before it starts. Come on mister drunk lover boy, time for you to go home."

With that, she pulled him up so he was leaning on her shoulder again, and headed for the door. Sokka looked up at her and said, "Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy, itsh Suckee! Whash you wants to do? The nightsh young, and we haven _packsh_ in a whilez!"

It was now Suki's turn to blush furiously, as she pulled him along and they went out the front door to go home. Aang and Katara laughed while Iroh was confused and Toph was still in shock didn't really register what had happened.

"You two look tired, why don't we all head back to my tea shop to talk?" Iroh offered as they all got up.

They began to head to the door as well, when Aang stopped in front of the manager and grabbed thirty gold coins from his coin pouch and handed it to and muttered, "This is for the band and the alcohol and…everything. I can come by tomorrow and fix the grass, but it still seems to be in use by stragglers at the moment, and I got to go.

The manager waved it off and said, "Actually, I rather like the dance floor, a little altering and it could be an outdoor patio to serve more guests. We have been getting more and more customers, and I am running out of room, so this solves my problem quite nicely."

Aang smiled joyfully and replied, "Happy to be of help."

With that they walked off and arrived at Iroh's teashop. Aang and Katara were halfway through explaining their dance to Toph, obviously leaving some parts out, when the door suddenly slammed open and in stumbled an Earth Kingdom soldier, who collapsed in a chair panting.

Iroh walked over and said, "My good man, what is wrong that has caused you to run like this?"

He was gasping for air like a floundering fish and panted, "Need…Avatar…news…bad."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Yes, the gang wasn't the only ones busy tonight. Over at Boling Rock Prison, at 6:30 on the nose as planned, Azula was on her way to escape, and the plan Ming had come up with was actually quite clever, one she couldn't have done in her cell. He had forged transfer papers and actually copied the Fire Lords seal by hand perfectly. There was no difference between his forge and a normal transfer paper.

The warden had questioned why they would transfer such a high profile prisoner out of the most secure prison in the fire nation out on one of the spare small war balloons. It didn't have bombs, but it could transport well enough. Ming just shrugged and asked how he was supposed to know what the Fire Lord wanted. The warden was silenced and just waved him off. So instead of fighting her way out, she just walked out the front door.

They were on the gondola, half way up the slope, easily out of sight and hearing range of the guards in the prison, Ming began to laugh and yelled, "I can't believe that actually worked! So, what do you have planned to fix the fire nation?"

Azula laughed with him and said, "I know, how dumb can they be? And my plan for fixing the fire nation is to kill the Fire Lord, the Avatar, and all of their friends and make them all suffer for what they did to me."

By the time Azula finished that speech, she had fully stopped laughing and her face settled into a twisted grin that seemed to almost curve inward back to her features. Ming had stopped laughing and instead was afraid of that smile that sent shivers down his spine. He suddenly had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he had made a really big mistake.

"Thank you Ming, you have served your purpose, you may go now," And with that, she grabbed his collar, did a back roll, pulling him along with her, and kicking him out of the roof of the gondola with a blue fire blast to his chest. His chest armor absorbed enough of the impact that he didn't get burned, but had it implode on his chest. Even with that, he didn't immediately black out from the pain, instead screaming in agony at the top of his lungs as he feel down and with a horrifying splash, landed in the boiling water, still floundering and screaming from the searing pain on the surface until his armor and fatigue began to slowly pull him under, and that was the last anyone heard of Ming. No one would know how he betrayed his country and set Azula on the world, just another casualty of Azula's rampage, honored as a hero.

Azula watched this with her head out the window and eyebrow raised at an unnatural height, her demonic smile faded a little as she said to herself, "He had a high tolerance for pain, maybe I should have kept him as a pet. Oh well, can't change the past now."

The guards at the drop off area were over their shock by this point, they were trained soldiers, two of the three standing at the ready at the platform, the other one furiously scribbling a message and getting a messenger hawk, which didn't fly through the steam, so he had to send this hawk to someone, tell them that Azula was attempting an escape attempt. The gondola was almost at the platform, and Azula was already formulating her tactics and her plan.

The gondola landed at the platform, and the guards slammed open the gondola door and launched their fireballs, but nothing was there. Curious but weary, one of the guards stepped through the entrance to the gondola, only to be sent flying back with the other guard from Azula swinging down with her hands along handlebars at the top of the car and her legs hitting the poor guard in the chest, hitting her point blank with a fire blast of such heat that the chest of the armor melted away and the woman was charred black and sent flying over the edge into the boiling lake. The one on the bottom who was knocked over by the woman in front of him didn't enter the gondola slid along the ground and came to a stop, trying to get up. Thankfully for him, his friend had taken all of the fire. Good for him, bad for his friend.

Before he could get up though, Azula did a front flip and landed square on his chest, pinning his arms with her legs. He struggled, but in vain as Azula leaned forward and with her right hand grabbed the mans throat and with her left, pointed two fingers right in between his eye. She leaned forward and whispered into the mans left ear, "I wonder what lightning strait to your brain would do?"

The man screamed so familiarly as Azula leaned back and tried to summon lightning, but instead of doing lightning, it just exploded at point blank range. Azula was sent flying head over foot into the gondola, landing on her back with a force that should have knocked the wind out of her, but instead she stood up, taking very deep breaths and light headed, and didn't feel any pain. Her rage had intensified, rage against Zuko and his friends, but she didn't feel anything from the blow. She looked over her prison attire that was now covered in the deceased guards blood, and to the guard that was now very much so decapitated, his head having splattered from the blast on the pavement so all that was left was a seared neck. "Interesting," Azula muttered to herself, staring at the horrible and gruesome death, and laughed. She put her palm on her forehead and leaned back, and just continued to laugh.

"Fly to the Fire Palace! Scatter, all of you!" She heard the third guard yell, which immediately snapped her out of her laughing fit and her face contorted in rage. She watched as the bird he just released flew away, along with every other bird in the cages, flying in every possible direction. Azula yelled with furry as she leaped through the air in a way that reminded her of Ty Lee, that traitor, dodging over the flame arc the guard had sent her way. And landed gracefully behind him, grabbing his arms, and flipping him over her back with more force then she thought her body could possibly produce, and rolled with him, ending up that he landed hard and she was on top of him, holding his arms, him facing the ground.

She his arms with her right hand, which may not have served a real purpose, considering he just had the wind knocked out of him and couldn't really move all that much, and with her left hand, she grabbed the mans helmet, ripped it off, and turned his head so that he was looking to the left and slammed it into the pavement for emphasis. He started to bleed from his temple as she held his head there, leaned forward to his ear, and seethed through clenched teeth, "_Do you have_ _any __**IDEA**__ what you just did?!"_

The mans face contorted with fear as tears began to fall from his eyes, he knew what was coming, but even though he was terrified for his life, knowing he was probably about to die, he still managed to force out, "Standing up and stopping you."

The princess did not find this amusing. She punched released his head and put her fingers to the mans chest plate, over his heart, and whispered with maniacal glee, "Those traitorous words will be your last." With that she called her lightning again, but this time, her rage had taken a hold of her; all of her thoughts, actions, movements, everything. When she came out of that short trance, she looked down and found a smoldering hole the size of her fist right where the man's heart was. Curiosity getting the better of her, she took his bleeding corpse and flung it to the right, and found a black, charred hole that went deep into the earth, deeper then she could see down, which at this time of day, was about ten feet.

"Well that's new," She said out loud with curiosity, the maniacal smile from when she killed Ming wide across her face again. She got up and in one swift move, summoned and controlled this new rage, doing a roundhouse kick to the steel support structure of the gondola, which now had the spare car heading in her direction. It created a solid red arc of what appeared to be lightning, but more focused. Instead of forking out in a cone, it stayed in one consistent arc and sliced the metal like a knife through warm butter. It was as strong as lightning, but worked like fire in that she could control it, and it didn't just go strait. She watched as the gondola filled to the brim with guards what were halfway across the lake suddenly drop as the lines and support were severed and slammed into the lake. Four of the windows had shattered and water was slowly filling it up as it traded air for water and began to sink into the lake, along with the terrified screams of anguish of the guards that slowly sank with it.

Azula looked back at the support structure, which was still glowing red from heat where she had cut it. She looked at it curiously, then back to the sinking gondola, and laughed manically. It would sound to anyone who knew her and heard it, that her voice had gone up an octave, and was like a hyena, and it would make blood run cold in anyone who heard it. She walked slowly over to the war balloon. She could go after the birds and try to find it, but that would just bring her closer to danger, which she needed to avoid right now. Besides, they would come and investigate and witness her handiwork, and they would grow afraid. That was good, they should be afraid, they should fear her, because she was a force to be reckoned with, a force to be feared. She needed to get followers. She would need fire benders and the Dai Lee for her plan to work, and that could take a while. She was still laughing while she thought of this, and would love to see Zuko redirect _this_ lightning.

* * *

**Ahh Azula. makes me laugh, she's so crazy. if you got any questions about where I'm going with this, or where this seemingly left-field idea came from, message me and i'll say what i can. get enough of the messages, and i'll put it up beginning of next chapter as general knowledge. hope you liked it so far, but I'm tired from revising this chapter, it was exhausting, so I'm going to call it a night with this lovely cliffy of a chapter that will hopefully have you on the edge of your seats for the next one. i'll try to continue the editing and re-posting tomorrow, but i got to pack for college, so it's hit or miss, but i can promise you that it will be up before Friday, and it is at the moment really early tuesday, so it won't be long. Review, and i'll catch you all sometime soon.**

**11,418 words, hope you loved every one of them.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Damage Done

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter, i hope you enjoyed it. If you liked the end of the last chapter, and since you're reading this i'll assume you did, don't worry, there is plenty more where that came from. Thanks for all the reviews and messages i got from you guys, it's been really awesome. Oh, interesting side note, i got my FIRST FLAME! HORRAY! it wasn't that bad really, most of it just made me laugh. He said how i was terrible and unoriginal, and i wanted to be anything i needed to go and write my own stuff to amount to his left nut, he has a wierd fascination with genitalia, and i'm like, "lol, fanfiction?" Anyway, i'm getting side tracked, i'm sure you all just want to read this chapter, so let the show begin! (please skip next sentence, under this little paragraph)**

**Disclaimer: Seriously, this is the thing that pisses me off the most on this sight, because it is complete and total BS. Why do i have to put a disclaimer on Avatar on a site called FANFICTION. If i owned, wouldn't i be out in production with this already, making money, or atleast making it official?**

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Book 4: Air Reconstruction

Chapter 6: The Damage Done

The group sat in Iroh's teashop, waiting for the soldier to catch his breath and deliver the bad news, but Aang could already feel it coming. He had this unsettling feeling for the past week, that something bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon. Apparently, soon was now. Katara reached over, and gripped Aang's hand tightly, trying to reassure him, but Aang didn't respond, the anticipation was killing him.

The man finally seemed to calm his heart rate and get a grip on himself. He looked up at the Avatar, and then look away, fearing what would happen when he gave him the news. Iroh walked over with a tray and put some tea in front of the man while putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile, sensing his fears.

"Well…" he started, taking a deep breath, "We just received a letter addressed to you by messenger hawk at the palace a half an hour ago. It's from The Boiling Rock, its Azula…she escaped," He ended in a feeble whisper, trying to not get on the Avatar's bad side.

Aang shook visibly with rage, his fist clenched tight enough that his nails dug into his palm and bled. He looked at the floor, trying to keep control over his emotions. "It's my fault…" he whispered quietly, trying to hold back his emotions.

"Aang-," Katara started before Aang cut her off.

"No Katara, it's my fault! I should have taken away her bending, but she seemed so far gone, I didn't think it mattered! Obviously, it was just a ploy, a get to escape with her fire bending. I should have done it as a precaution anyway." He yelled, starting on his rant, pacing back and forth in front of Katara, trying to walk out his pent up anger and frustration that had been starting to build from the meetings.

Katara put a hand on his arm and whispered in a low and soothing tone, "She didn't even know you had that power when I fought her with Zuko, and even then, she was already gone over the edge. There was no way you could have predicted it."

Aang never looked at her when she said this, and yanked his arm away from her grip, continuing on his rant yelling, "Then it's the guards fault, could they keep her under control?! Can _anyone_ do anything without the Avatar's help, coming in to fix it like I'll always be there! I swear to-,"

"Aang!" Katara yelled and wheeled Aang around to face her. He was still trying to hold back the tears as Katara held him in an embrace, whispering softly in his ear, "It's no one's fault Aang, no one could see this coming."

Aang wrapped his arms around her waist and mumbled depressed into her shoulder, "It'll never end, will it?"

Katara pulled away and looked him straight in the eye and stated softly but firmly, "Don't say that Aang. Once we put Azula back in her cage where she can't escape, we can live in peace. This is the _last_ battle, trust me."

Aang calmed down, getting a grip on himself, nodding silently in reply, and turned and faced everyone who had been watching the outbreak silently, then told the soldier, "We have to tell Bumi, he could be in danger."

The soldier, happy to be talking about good news, replied, "They were already copying and sending the message to his palace before I left, it should be on its way."

"Good," Aang nodded and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"After Azula, we need to try and find her before this gets out of hand. I won't let her get away," Aang replied over his shoulder and then walked out. Katara motioned for Toph to come with her; they would need her before this was over.

"Wait!" Iroh called to Toph before she got out. She felt him going through some things in his back room and then walk over to her. He continued, "I wanted to give this to Sokka before he left again, but he's not exactly in his right mind at the moment, or leaving under the best of conditions. Can you make sure he gets this?"

Toph grabbed the package from Iroh, and felt what it was through its wrapping immediately. She asked awestruck, "How did you…?"

Iroh put a hand on her shoulder and said reassuringly, "I didn't think he should go without this, so please make sure he gets it, for me?"

Toph nodded and ran out the door to head to her place and get her things packed. Aang and Katara were heading to Aang's house to wake Sokka and Suki and get ready to go.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko sat up in bed, unable to fall asleep. He had a very unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, and couldn't pin why. It may have been that coy fish he had earlier today that he didn't really care for, but his sixth sense was telling him that wasn't it. He felt like it was much darker then bad fish. He looked over at Mai, asleep in his bed next to him, snoring quietly. She looked so tranquil and beautiful, and cared about Zuko's wellbeing enough to force upon him this afternoon off to spend with her. Zuko smiled with content and brushed her bangs away from her face.

He suddenly heard a quiet hooting noise behind him, and turned to find a messenger hawk perched by his window sill, pecking softly on the glass; as if it knew there was someone asleep in there he shouldn't awaken. It appeared very tired while Zuko, opening his window, retrieved the message out of the container on its back. He grabbed the water pitcher from his bedside and the spare cup, pouring ice-cold water in the cup and putting it in front of the tired bird, motioning for it to drink. The bird graciously and quietly did so while Zuko read the letter.

_Dear Fire Lord,_

_Azula is escaping. She could go anywhere. Inform others, you're in danger. _

_Send back up._

_Boiling Rock_

Zuko felt as if his stomach had turned to lead and sunk into the sea. He immediately called out, "Warriors! In here, now!"

Zuko heard the slight movement of ceiling tiles and a soft thump as the Kyoshi warriors landed right behind him. Mai began to stir, rubbing her eyes, trying to get a grasp of what was going on, while the warriors bowed with respect in front of Zuko. "We must leave now, get your comrades," He commanded. The warriors nodded and went back into the ceiling; the only sound heard was a soft tapping that could have been a rat if Zuko didn't know better.

"What's going on?" Mai asked, still trying to get a grasp of her surroundings, while Zuko went to his dresser and began grabbing clothes and pulling them into his bag.

"It's Azula, she's escaped, I need to go," He replied quickly without turning around, short, simple, and to the point.

Mai was no longer tired as she began to walk to her normal room, muttering, "I hate packing."

Zuko grabbed her arm and spun her around, whispering, "You can't go, I don't know what I would do if I saw you get hurt. Please, just stay here."

Mai glared at him defiantly and replied, "She could be on her way here right now to try and kill you again, and guess who she would take her rage out on when you weren't here? Besides, where would I be safer, with hordes of no name guards who wouldn't be able to touch Azula, or with the man who already helped defeat her once?"

Zuko deflated from her logic, already realizing he was trying to fight a losing battle, and let her go as she went to pack. Zuko finished putting handfuls of clothes in his bag and grabbed a roll from a basket the servants left for if he got hungry, and put it in front of the bird as well, who gratefully began pecking at it. Zuko smiled and muttered, "Eat, you deserve it."

He then called together all of the higher up officials, such as the generals and upper class officials, and informed them all of the situation and to step up their security and send messages to anyone away, along with the other nations, who may or may not already know. More importantly, he told them to keep telling the public he was here, not wanting his nation to know he wasn't there to lead it, if only for a little. He also told the generals to ready a ship for him, not the royal ship. He needed to travel in stealth.

Zuko pulled the cloak he wore when he left the fire nation to help Aang out of his bag and pulled it on, and put his swords on his back. He waited at the front gate for a good five minutes, until Mai came with her cloak that only fell down to the middle of her shins, followed by the Kyoshi warriors. All were packed and ready to go.

"I want you all to stick to the rooftops and stay out of sight, we're going for subtly, I don't want anyone besides those on a need to know basis to know that I'm gone," He told the warriors, who nodded and vanished. Zuko grabbed Mai's hand and pulled her down the main road as they walked together to the docks. Occasionally, Zuko would spot a shadow moving from roof to roof, or in the ally next to him, but besides that, he couldn't even notice the warriors.

Zuko sighed as they reached the ship with no incident. They walked aboard and spotted the Kyoshi Warriors already scattering to give their ship its usual run through, two coming to stay by Zuko's side. Zuko looked around at a sea of familiar faces of his old crew who smiled and bowed greeting him. Zuko smiled and waved at them all.

Zuko walked up to the helm and said to the helmsman, "Set course for the Boiling Rock immediately, full speed."

"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko," the helmsman replied and bowed as the ship began to pull out of port. Zuko walked down to his usual room with Mai, who decided to back to bed for a couple hours. Zuko lay next to her, trying to sleep, but he had too much going through his head.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang walked into the house with Katara, which at this time of night was pitch black. Aang, before doing anything, sat on a floor cushion and took his meditative stance on the floor. Katara was incredibly perplexed by this and just couldn't stop herself, as she asked, "Is this really the time to be sitting there Aang?"

Aang answered softly as he replied, without opening an eye or moving at all, "I need to think about what our next course of action should be and clear my head. Please, just go get packed and ready and wake Sokka and Suki."

Katara nodded and, even though he couldn't see it, lit two candles for him and one for her, walking silently away. She walked up the stairs to find Sokka and Suki asleep in his bed, entwined in each other. Sokka was snored almost as loud as Appa could roar it seemed, and how Suki put up with it and slept there, blissfully unaware, baffled Katara. "They really are perfect for each other," She thought.

Katara sighed as she gently nudged Suki, who stirred and sat up in a green nightgown muttering, "Wassup Katara? What's going on?"

"We have to go," Katara said simply but forcefully, and Suki didn't even bother questioning, realizing that time was off the essence.

She was suddenly wide-awake as she muttered, "I'll wake him up and get us prepared, you go pack."

Katara nodded and went to the door, but right before she stepped out, she turned and asked, "How can you sleep with that?"

She smiled softly and said, "I guess I just don't hear it while I'm asleep, and I try to fall asleep before he does." Katara nodded again, smirking a little, and stepped out to go to her room to pack her things.

She finished in half an hour and walked downstairs, to find that Aang was gone. Curious, she stepped out to find him right outside the front door, already packed and getting Appa ready.

"Wow, you pack fast," She called up to him as he was tying down his supplies. He had gathered as much spare food from the house that was able that as able to be preserved as he could and had packed it too.

Aang shrugged as he replied, "I was raised to not really need a whole lot of earthly possessions, so it only took me five minutes to pack my clothes. You mind handing me that box of bread?" Katara passed it up to him as he finished securing that to the back of Appa's saddle, who was resting and eating his fill on hay still, trying to get prepped for what could be a long journey. Katara passed up to him her bag as well, and when Aang secured that he hopped gracefully down and landed softly with airbending.

Right when he landed, Katara walked over and held him, arms wrapped around his chest, whispering, "How are you feeling? Do you want to talk about it now?"

Aang pulled back, keeping his hands around her waist, smiled warmly at her, "I'm sorry if I worried to you, it was just the meetings getting to me, and I guess this bad news pushed me over the edge. I'm better now, and I'm sorry if I worried you."

Katara smiled back and kissed him, very short and sweet, and left to go and continue getting ready. Right when she pulled away, they saw Toph running over who yelled, "Hey, brake it up you two, lets get this show on the road."

Aang smiled and grabbed her stuff to go pack it while she sat in the chair by the door, waiting to leave. Katara walked back inside to go check on Suki. She knocked to hear Suki yell, "Can you get in here and help me with this?"

Katara opened the door and spotted Suki standing over Sokka. Next to her were her and Sokka's bags, which she assumed she packed for him, because she was hunched over him trying to wake him up. Sokka, who obviously had a little too much alcohol, was dead to the world, drooling contently.

Katara sighed and said, "Here, watch."

Katara got by his ear so she was only centimeters away and proceeded to yell, "FIRE RAID!"

Sokka jumped up in a way that reminded Katara of when Suki surprised him at the palace, and went for his boomerang that wasn't there and he shouted in a semi-conscious voice, "Fortify the defenses, snowballs at the ready, NO POTTY BREAKS!" After his little outburst, he feel face flat in his bed and went back to sleep.

Suki laughed hysterically while Katara shook her head and whispered, "Wow, that almost always works."

"It did, for about five seconds. Here, get his left side, I'll take the right, and we'll just carry him to Appa," Suki replied still in a fit of giggles. Katara did as instructed and went out towards Appa.

Right when they reached the kitchen, Katara just had to ask, "Why are you marrying him again?"

"Because he's funny and loveable," She replied cheerily with a smile. Katara shook her head as they pulled him out the front door.

Toph and Aang sensed the vibrations of the scene of Sokka being carried and began to laugh hysterically. Katara smirked as she said, "You think that's funny, watch this. FIRE RAID!"

Sokka looked up and shouted, "I SAID NO POTTY BREAKS!" and went back to sleep. Aang and Toph brought new definition to the term rolling on the floor laughing.

"Oh, oh my ribs!" Aang shouted, clutching his sides, laughing as he rolled back and forth in the fettle position.

"Oh god! Aang help I…ha ha…can't breathe!" Toph yelled while laughing on her stomach, beating the ground with her fist causing it to shake a little.

"Okay, get over it, we need to go now. Aang, can you go grab bags. Katara and me will get everyone on Appa's back," Suki ordered as Katara and her dragged Sokka's snoring form to Appa, who lowered his tail for them to walk up like ramp. Aang ran off and grabbed their bags while the girls got Sokka situated.

When Aang came back out, Katara and Suki where already helping Toph on board, who muttered, "I just remembered how much I hate flying." Aang passed up their bags and went back inside for one last thing.

He picked Momo up, who was sleeping soundly on the table, and whispered in his ear, "Come on buddy, time to go." Momo chirped loudly in protest from being woken up, hopped on Aang's head, and went back to sleep. Aang smiled and walked back out.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara called from the saddle, getting Toph situated.

"Just grabbing my hat," He replied as he airbended to Appa's head. Katara looked over the rim of the saddle at him and giggled quietly.

Suki was getting Sokka a blanket while Toph stayed by the edge and curled to sleep with her own pillow and blanket. Suki walked over to the front rim of the saddle and whispered, "So uh…Aang I was just wondering wha-," She started before she was pulled back by Katara. Suki glanced over questioningly as Katara had her hand on Suki's mouth and a finger in front of her own, looking nervously at Aang.

"Azula escaped, Aang's really depressed, so lets try not to mention it so much," Katara whispered quietly so Aang wouldn't hear, although she didn't see his shoulder's sag ever so slightly.

Suki crawled over to Sokka, nuzzling into his chest and whispered back, "He's going to have to talk about it when we get there."

Katara turned away, choosing not to answer, and glanced back at Aang, who kept facing rigidly forward. Katara frowned a little and tried to get a little sleep like everyone else, but never did, lying on her side away from Aang to at least appear asleep for him so he wouldn't worry.

This went on for a good three hours as they went through the night. Sokka snored loudly with Suki sleeping peacefully in his chest. Toph was rolled in the corner with a pillow and blanket, and Katara lay close to the head of the saddle, wide-awake. Aang looked around, recognizing a large and very unique mountain that was wider at the top rather than the bottom, and they flew past while Aang made a minor course correction. "You know where to go from here, right buddy?" Aang asked Appa as he patted his head. Appa roared quietly, and Aang muttered, "You just take a break whenever you need to."

With that, Aang airbended up and into the saddle, right behind Katara who lay still not turning to Aang, who didn't realize that Katara was awake. Aang smiled affectionately as he brushed her bangs out of her face and rubbed his hand across her cheek. Katara shivered, not because she was cold, but Aang didn't know that and immediately went to go grab a blanket.

Katara sat up and smiled warmly while Aang searched through his bag for a blanket. He turned around and stopped for a second, then walked over to her and put the blanket around her, leaving an arm draped over her shoulder. He blushed a little as he whispered, "Sorry that I woke you."

"It's okay, I wasn't even asleep," She replied with a slight grin.

Aang looked a little perplexed at this and said back, "Then why not talk to me or say anything?"

Katara replied by nuzzling into the crook of his neck and in his arms as she whispered, "Because I didn't want you to worry about me."

Aang rolled his eyes and with a slight smirk muttered, "Would have been nice to have someone to talk to."

Katara replied sarcastically, "Aang, the only thing you would have said would be I needed to rest."

Aang smiled and put his arms around her to pull her onto his lap and rested his head on hers and responded, "You know, you should have gone to sleep, but I'm glad you didn't right now."

Katara smiled into his chest as she replied with mock anger, "Oh, I should be asleep? I doubt you've gotten half the amount of sleep I have."

Aang leaned his head back in defeat, "Your right, I am really tired, but someone has to steer."

Katara pulled away from Aang and sat with her legs folded under her as she patted her lap and muttered, "Come on, you need some rest."

Aang blushed at this and his mind suddenly registered that she was still wearing that same sexy dress, but still did as he was told and laid down with his head on her lap. Katara smiled down at him, although Aang had a tough time recognizing it, and leaned down to kiss his forehead, bringing her chest uncomfortably close to his face, causing him to blush furiously. Katara looked down as she leaned up and her brow began to furrow with concern as she asked, "Are you okay Aang, your face is red. If you're too hot, I could back off."

Aang shook his head, forced a smile, and shut his eyes, as he responded trying to not show how nervous he was, "Nope, I'm fine, I just…really like this spot."

Katara shrugged it off and leaned against the edge of the saddle, looking out at the stars. Aang screwed his eyes shut trying to force the unclean thoughts focused directly on the sight above him out of his head before things got really embarrassing.

They arrived just as the sun began to rise, and landed at the base of the mountain, where Appa collapsed with a loud contented roar to be on the ground that sufficiently woke everyone up, even Aang and Katara, who managed to drift to sleep last night. They quickly moved before anyone saw them, because Sokka would have had a fit. Everyone sat up and stretched, except Sokka, who moaned in pain clutching his head, and muttered, "Ahhh, _god_ my head! Not so loud Appa! Good god, how much did I drink last night?"

Sokka cracked open his eye halfway open, took a quick look around, although not actually registering what he saw, whispered, "Man, that must have been some party, I thought I was looking at an ocean from Appa's saddle. Man, I need to go to the bathroom."

With that, Sokka walked to his right, not realizing that most of Appa _was_ in the water relaxing for a little except his tail so people could get off, and walked with his eyes still shut to his right. He walked right out of Appa's saddle and fell into the water face first, which seemed to wake him up really quick. He spat up a mouthful of water and sat up, only in his pants from yesterday, and looked around with new, open eyes. "Where the _hell_ are we?" He asked quickly, sitting and leaning on his arms in the knee-deep water.

"The Boiling Rock," Katara answered quickly, trying to make a cutting motion at her throat trying to give him the message to stop talking, which quickly went right over his head.

"Helpful, mind telling me why we are here?" he asked sarcastically in response while Katara smacked her forehead at her brother's stupidity, tempted to freeze him to the ocean right where he sat.

"Because Azula escaped," Aang replied quietly and ever so slightly bitterly that only Toph and Katara noticed, who both had expected it with his outburst from last night.

Katara glared icy daggers at Sokka while she went and put her arm around his shoulder and they walked off the bison, leaving a very confused Sokka in the water who asked, "What, what did I say? What's the worst that could have happened?"only to receive no answer. Everyone else followed them up the path to the loading platform, Sokka still a little moody with his hangover and not knowing what he did. It was only a short walk up the mountain, but one that Aang was dreading nonetheless, fearing what he would find.

"Stop!" Toph yelled suddenly, frantically, and very loudly, her voice shaking with fear, something no one had heard since she nearly drowned in the Serpent's Pass, but this made that seem like she was wading in ankle deep water. No, this was true terror, as she fell backward a little, her knees stopped supporting her, until Suki caught her.

"What's wrong Toph, what is it?" Katara asked with concern.

"You don't want to know, we should just go back to Appa right now and fly far away," She whispered quietly, terror still filling her tone, but what really gave it away that something was wrong was that Toph _wanted_ to go fly. There wasn't a lot that would make Toph want to be totally blind and useless.

Everyone took a gulp as she walked slowly and a little unsteadily back down to Appa, not wanting to feel any more vibrations anymore. Aang slowly lead on, almost at the rim of the crater where the platform was. He was almost at the top, one step from being able to see over the rim to the platform. He stopped, took a deep breath, and stepped to the rim.

He stopped immediately and began to shake. Katara stopped when she saw this and worriedly watched Aang and asked with caution, "Aang…?"

At that moment, Aang's knees had gone weak and buckled as he feel on them, staying straight up, too shocked to speak.

Katara, now very worried, walked up to Aang followed quickly by Sokka and Suki. When she saw the wreckage that was the loading station, she let out an audible gasp as her hands flew straight to her mouth, tears of horror welding in her eyes. Aang turned to her and pulled her close, holding her tighter then he ever had before, turning his back to the carnage and standing right in her view, so she wouldn't see it. She began to silently sob for the ones who died, Aang's face being the epitome of sadness and remorse. Suki turned and grabbed Sokka as she sobbed on his still bare chest. Sokka held her and looked away, trying to hold back his emotions.

They stayed like that for a while, trying to will the image away out of their heads, but it wasn't possible; that image would be forever etched in their minds. Sokka was the first to regain control over himself as he muttered, "Come on, we better cover them up. They deserve a proper burial, which is something we can't give right now, but we can at least…cover them."

Aang wiped his eyes and got up with Sokka, leaving the girls to stay their distance. They slowly walked down the rim to the platform, Aang's hand still shaking. "I have never seen such a recently killed…person, before," Aang muttered, unable to bring himself to say corpse, even though that's what it was.

"I have…" Sokka whispered quietly too himself, trying to not think back to that awful day. Aang put his hand on Sokka's shoulder as they pressed on. They reached the bodies and Aang bent over and vomited on the ground from the stench. Sokka wasn't feeling too well either, but focused all of his energy on not puking, not wanting to add the taste of bile to his illnesses for the day.

"Aang, look at this," Sokka whispered quietly, bending over one of the bodies. Aang walked over and looked down at the poor man, who appeared to have been in his early twenties. He had a giant hole punched through his chest where his heart should be, and was laying in a pool of his own blood. Next to him, about three feet away, was a burnt hole in the ground. Aang and Sokka looked at that and Sokka grabbed a nearby rock and dropped it in the hole. It took a good 10 seconds before they heard a splash of water.

Sokka whistled a high-pitched tone that gradually got lower; Aang just stared down at the blackness and whispered, "What _did_ this?"

"Probably the same thing that did that," Sokka said, pointing over to the stub that used to be the support holding up the lines to the gondola. They saw that it had been completely severed in one clean cut, almost two feet of steel. Add that with the other body that had had his head blown to bits, and Aang could only think of one unanswerable question, "How did Azula do this?"

"That's what I would like to know," They boys heard from behind them. They wheeled around to see Zuko standing there, examining the carnage, having just arrived.

"When did you get here?" Sokka asked quizzically.

"A few minutes after you guys did. We didn't walk up the mountain, we ran," he answered simply; his face seemed incredibly depressed, like he had just lost a family member.

"Are you okay, you don't look so good," Aang asked, looking at his grave face.

Zuko's fist clenched tightly and shook with rage, "These are _my_ people. They entrust me with their wellbeing, their protection, their _lives_, and I let them down, I failed them, another failure. I should have put her in a larger prison, I should have kept that conniving bitch in _chains_."

Tears began to well in his eyes, as he seemed to take these deaths very hard, but showed the steely control over his emotions that he was known for, trying to shake off his tears. Aang walked over and put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, trying to reassure him. Zuko looked at Aang and he seemed so lost, like he had no idea what to do. Aang gave him a little smile as he said, "You know, that's the first thing I said when I heard Azula escaped. But Katara was right when she reassured me that there was nothing we could have done. You know Azula better then any of us Zuko; you know she wouldn't just sit in jail for the rest of her life. She would have found a way out, no matter what you did."

Zuko sighed in defeat, knowing the Avatar was right, but he whispered quietly, "That doesn't make it any less hard to bear."

"I know Zuko, I know," Aang replied softly, and began to walk up the crater. Sokka followed him, and Zuko was about to when he spotted something that made his heart drop even farther.

Zuko walked over to the headless guard, praying that he was wrong, but knew when he found the golden locket chain hanging around the neck of the guard, that he was right. Zuko searched frantically, trying to find what should be the third body, and saw a scrape mark by the lip of the lake. He looked over the rim and just barely visible through the haze was a battered fire nation helm, hanging on a rock by the edge of the lake.

Zuko screamed in fury, causing Aang and Sokka to turn around simultaneously and run to Zuko by the edge of the crater. Sokka got there first and asked frantically, "What is it Zuko, what's wrong?"

Aang came up Zuko's right side and saw the bloody necklace with a locket hanging from it in his hand. He gently took it and opened it seeing a man and a woman enthralled by each other, and an inscription that said "together forever" on the back. "What is this Zuko?" Aang asked curiously.

"That is a picture of Mai's older cousin, who had been stationed here. He meet what was his fiancé during the war. They always worked together during the war, and were scheduled to get married next week. She transferred here to spend more time with him, and the warden would always station them together. He always had a strong sense of duty," Zuko said quietly.

Aang's stomach twisted in a way he hadn't thought humanly possible as he realized from the blood and the fact that Zuko didn't immediately recognize the body that this came from the headless man, and since the other corpse was a man that could only mean from the skid mark and the helmet that his fiancé had…

"Zuko, I am so sorry," Sokka said quietly.

"I just…don't know how I'm going to tell her. She and her cousin weren't always close, him being shipped away by a father that disapproved of him, but she tried to get to know him, because he understood her situation the best and he was the only person besides me she would show a hint of emotion to. He, on the other hand, was always out going and fun to be around," He said quietly, with a small smile of fond memories.

He suddenly sank to his knees and punched the ground in fury, causing the tip of the ledge to fall into the lake and his hand to bleed as he yelled, "That _bitch_! How could she, she meet Kaizu? She knew what he looked like, and she would have to at least see his face to…AAAHHHH!" And with that, he punched the ground one more time for emphasis, threw his head back and yelled to the sky.

Sokka and Aang were shocked silent. How could Azula, in cold blood, kill someone she knew? It made no sense, and really shook Aang and Sokka as they truly got a grasp for what they were going up against, an evil that could quite possibly surpass Ozai. As far as they knew, Ozai had never killed his friends with his own two hands. Aang was beginning to think Azula's insanity may not have been a ploy.

Zuko stood up and sighed, shaking away the tears that were starting to form. He turned around and looked at the headless corpse with new reverence. He bowed a little in respect, Aang and Sokka following in his sentiment, and began to walk up the hill. Aang followed up behind Zuko, who got mentally prepared for what he had to do, and handed him the locket back. Zuko looked up at Aang with sad eyes and sighed one more time. As hard as Aang was taking this, still feeling partially responsible even though Katara told him it wasn't his fault, he had no idea what Zuko was going through. He had seen the body of someone he cared about so horribly maimed. Aang tried to reassure Zuko as much as he could, but Zuko seemed to be shutting out the world, looking only at Mai.

Mai was already shaking horribly, fearing the worst from Zuko's anguished cries. When she looked into his eyes as he drew close to her, she turned away, trying to deny what he silently said. Apparently she already had fears of her own, but had tried not to believe them. Zuko silently held her hand and put the locket in it, holding her hand tightly. It was at that moment that Mai's unshakeable monotone voice and cold demeanor that only had the slightest of changes shattered entirely. This was the first time any of them had seen her like this, as she held Zuko and openly wept on his shoulder. He just held her in silence, tears of his own silently running down his pained face.

The rest left them to stayed there for a little while; they needed the time to themselves. Aang and Sokka pulled Katara and Suki along down the hill to where Appa and the ship were waiting. Katara, who was shaken and curious at the same time, asked quietly, "Aang, what happened to make Mai-?"

Aang cut her off, his voice and hand shaking as he replied, "I'll…I'll tell you back at Appa." Aang was so mortified he couldn't even look around and see Katara in the eyes. This worried Katara, but took the answer without question, and followed him back to Appa.

They arrived to find Toph sitting by Appa, her arms around her knees and her head buried in it, shaking a little; she was only twelve and had to sense something so horrible. Sokka jerked his head from Suki to Toph as a signal, and Suki walked over and put her hand on the little girl's back. Aang let Katara go do the same, as the girls sat there looking at each other. Katara glanced up at Aang questioningly, but Aang turned away. Aang walked over to Sokka and whispered in his ear, "Go to the ship and tell them that they're going to need two body bags and two messenger hawks."

Sokka whispered back, "Hawks don't fly through the steam," already knowing what he was thinking, having thought of it ten minutes ago.

"One's going to have to try, because we need to know the situation in the prison, they need to know the situation out here. The other one needs to go back to Fire palace, requesting engineers to get that gondola working again as soon as possible." Sokka nodded and walked away. Aang sighed, getting mentally prepared for the question he knew was about to come as Sokka walked up to the ship.

"Aang, what happened back there?" Katara asked, looking up from Toph and Suki. Aang sat in front of them and explained everything that happened, from the odd ways the bodies were maimed, to the giant hole and the sliced gondola, and finally to Mai's cousin and what Zuko had said. All the while, Aang didn't look Katara in the eyes once, which disturbed her greatly, but not as much as this news. Toph didn't look up, but seemed to shake a little more, chest heaving slightly. Suki cried and held Toph closer, trying to will away the news she was being told. Katara held her hands over her mouth, almost like she was trying to keep something down, while she watched Aang, who sat cross-legged in front of them, staring at the ground, his face pale and blank.

After this was done, Sokka came back, and Suki got up and embraced him silently, burying her head in his chest. Sokka held her, petting her hair and rocking slowly back and forth, trying to soothe her distressed mind. Momo got up and sat near Toph, who stretched out a hand without looking up and scratching him gently behind the ear. Aang walked silently away back up the hill, and Katara called after him standing up, "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to Zuko," he replied quietly without turning around.

Katara had had enough of Aang avoiding her. She ran up, grabbed him by the forearm, and pulled him down from the beach, quietly demanding, "Come with me."

Aang silently obliged, not wanting to start anything right now. She pulled him until she was out of hearing range of the others, then wheeled around to him and demanded in a firm tone, "Why won't you look at me?"

Aang continued to stare at the ground and didn't answer, making Katara madder as tears began to well in her eyes and she grabbed his chin and made him look up and yelled, "Look at me Aang!"

Yet still, Aang's eyes veered to the left out to the ocean. Tears began to fall from her face before Aang mumbled something that Katara couldn't hear, as she asked, "What did you say?"

"I said I'm afraid to lose you!" He yelled back, his blood shot eyes also began to cry, tears streaming down his pale face. For the first time she got a good look at him, and he looked more terrified then she had ever seen, his eyes lost as if some spark that made them shine had gone out.

Katara pulled him close to her chest, her motherly instincts taking over, holding his head and whispered softly and soothingly, "What do you mean?"

Under any normal circumstances, Aang would have been extremely embarrassed to have his face buried in Katara's chest, but today was far from a normal day. Aang's shoulders heaved up and down with sobs as he wrapped his arms around her, and mumbled, "It's just…I saw the damage Azula had caused, and _all_ I could think about was what if it was you? This thought terrified me more then anything on the planet, and I realized just what we were going up against. This fight will be tougher than Ozai's, and he had the comet's power, and I just…don't want to see you hurt."

Katara felt the material of her dress begin to soak through from the tears, as Aang kept holding her, no longer the Avatar, or the strong and wise boy at the moment, but a thirteen year old kid who was lost, terrified, and had to save the world…again. Katara's heart went out to the immense pressure he had to bear right now, and held him tightly. She whispered back, "Aang, as a long as we have each other, we'll be fine. You can heal me, I can heal you, and we both need each other to keep each other going. I'll never leave you, ever. We can beat this, we always do, we just have to keep hope."

She smiled down at him, and he looked up, a small smile on his face, and that shine she adored in his eyes. He stopped slouching over and returned to his full height of almost hers and pulled her close, burying his head in her hair as he whispered, "Thank you Katara, for everything." She smiled on his shoulder and held him back.

"_Now_, I need to go talk to Zuko," He whispered and turned around to walk away, but Katara grabbed his forearm again.

"I think Mai needs him more right now. Besides, you both need to rest. Don't worry, Sokka will handle things, just relax. Everything will be fine," She replied firmly, leaving no room for argument. Besides, she was right. So they walked back to Appa where everyone else was sitting somberly. A letter had come back from the prison, listing how Azula had escaped and how many had really died. The group had no idea the amount of people on the gondola when it sank, and it confirmed Mai's brother. The letter had said they were short on supplies and needed some soon, even though the gondola would be out for a couple more days. Sure enough, Sokka was already taking charge, and sat in a corner trying to devise a way to get supplies to the people in the prison. He eventually settled on parachuting them in using spare sheets and the small war balloon that was kept in the cargo of every ship and went to set that up, followed by Suki. Toph went into a little earth tent, trying to get a grasp on herself. Aang and Katara climbed on Appa's head and lay in each other's arms, watching the clouds. Momo climbed atop of Aang's chest and napped there. Zuko brought Mai back to his room, where they laid in the dark and held each other in silence, trying to get through this loss. But no matter what their little group did, they all had the exact same thought. How did Azula do this?

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**Well, you like?...seriously, did you, i want to know. The title of second flame ever is still open if anyone wants to claim it. Good review, constructive review, flame, it all tells me someone read my story atleast. So just please click the review button. I hear there's a figurative cookie in it for you if you do.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Search Begins

**Hey guys! This one is a little short, and i apologize, the title sounds a little bit more exciting then it actually is. Don't worry, i'll make up for it in the next couple of chapters. I managed to break away from packing up my room for college to get this one out really quick. i may or may not have one more in me tonight, it really depends on when i get done with this. I wasn't on yesterday at all, went to a going away party. Tomorrow and the day after i'll be at a friends house, so no story, and then i got one other person to visit between now and then, so if i don't update tonight, don't keep your hopes too high this week. Not to mention sometime soon i have to pack up my computer for college. so i'll do what i can, but no promises.**

**Disclaimer: Aww screw it, i'm too busy to come up with something infuriatingly clever for this.**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 7: The Search Begins

Aang and Katara lay on Appa's saddle, Momo resting on Aang's lap, as they stared up at the clouds. They had been doing this for a good hour, while everyone else was busy doing their own things; copping in their own ways. Aang glanced over at Katara, who was still watching the clouds. He smiled slightly as he leaned over her and kissed her very passionately on the lips for a good five seconds before pulling back.

Katara starred up at him with a small smile and asked, "What exactly was that for?"

Aang smirked and sat back down next to her as he replied, "It just seemed like it's been way to long since I've done that."

Katara grinned mischievously back and pulled him on his side as she leaned over and they faced each other, whispering quietly in his ear, "Your right, it has been _far_ too long."

With that, they held each other and kissed heatedly, lost in each other, reveling in this blissful feeling. They were so lost in each other, they didn't notice Sokka and Suki climb up to the saddle. Suki put a hand over her mouth and Sokka huffed as he yelled, "Alright, break it up you two. I know emotions are running high today, but don't go and do anything stupid on me."

Aang and Katara instantly pulled away, blushing furiously as they sat up next to each other, Aang twiddling his thumbs and Katara twirling her hair nervously. Sokka smiled with a sigh as he sat on the other side of the saddle and muttered, "God, I'm getting too old for this. Okay you two, here's the plan. We just dropped in a good week's worth of supplies, practically emptying Zuko's ship, and the other ship is on its way to fix the gondola and bring _a lot_ more supplies. We need to stop wasting time here and get back to Ba Sing Se."

Aang looked up a little perplexed by this last statement as he muttered, "Shouldn't we be looking for Azula?"

Sokka shook his head as he replied, "Aang, she could be anywhere right now, gone in any direction, and we all still have our own duties to perform. We're needed elsewhere right now. But don't worry; we aren't on our own anymore. All three nations are sending out their intelligence operatives to gather information, blend in and try to come up with something. We know she'll be trying to find someone who will help her, take her in, so we are going to focus on the Earth Kingdom villages near the Fire Nation and in the Fire Nation. We have the water tribe fleet patrolling the waters in-between here and there. It's a grand total of almost one thousand people looking for her. They'll find her, don't worry, but we still have our political activities to attend to."

"Geez, you make it sound like such a fun adventure, 'political activities'," Aang muttered sarcastically with liberal use of air quotes.

"That's where our honeymoon is going to be," Sokka replied equally sarcastically before Suki punched him in the arm in a very Toph-like manner.

Aang sighed in defeat knowing that this was probably the better solution than his. One wasn't nearly as large as one thousand, and he doubted these politicians could ever get by without him. Aang stood up and muttered, "I need to go see Zuko."

As Aang flew off Appa in one quick and fluid motion, Katara looked down and muttered, "If I want to keep this dress I need to get out of it. It wasn't made for all of this traveling, and definitely not for fighting."

Suki replied with slight grin, "But Aang looked like he liked it so much."

Katara catching on, replied, "Oh he does. I might wear it one night when we're alone and-,"

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I'M IN MY HAPPY PLACE!" Sokka yelled as he jammed his fingers in his ears. Suki and Katara laughed as Katara grabbed her usual water tribe outfit and jumped down off of Appa, walking away down the beach to find a secluded spot.

Aang walked up the ramp to the ship and onto the deck. Immediately, the men on the deck bowed at Aang with respect, some almost fifty years old. Aang awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he muttered, "Uh…god, what do they usually say in the military, uh…oh yea, as you were gentlemen."

The crew went back to their tasks, and Aang sighed as he walked away slowly, trying to leave the awkward situation. He walked down the stairs and asked the nearest guard, "Do you know where I can find Zuko?"

He nodded and pointed down the hallway, "Yes, the Fire Lord is in his room. Go down the hall, and take the second left, go to the stairs and up three levels. Take your next right and he's in the last room on the left."

"Thanks!" Aang called as he ran off, vaguely hearing the man respond some respectful military remark. He followed the directions after getting lost twice and came to the hallway. As he walked down the corridor to Zuko's room, he saw the door open and Zuko slowly step out. He looked up, his face still raked with pain, eyes bloodshot.

Aang walked up slowly while Zuko peered inside and shut the door quietly. Aang stepped behind him and put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "How are you holding up?"

Zuko looked at him grimly as he replied, "I think I'll be okay, but I'm still worried about Mai. I have never seen her this sad and upset. I can't even imagine how hard this is for her right now. I have only one sibling right now, and I want to wring her neck. She's asleep finally, she needed a break, but she's strong. In a couple hours, she'll be her usual self."

"_I hope,"_ he added mentally. Aang pulled him along as they walked down the corridor and began to talk about what was happening.

"I agree with Sokka, I couldn't search for her anyway. My nation needs me right now more than ever. We should be leaving soon," Zuko muttered to Aang, who looked down and whispered.

"I still feel like I should be out there doing something productive to find her. How am I supposed to focus on meetings or anything like that knowing she's on the loose, and could attack at any moment? If anyone got hurt, I would never forgive myself," Aang whispered quietly as he starred at the floor.

Zuko put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and muttered, knowing who he referred to, "It's okay, she's a strong girl, and she can defend herself. But the world still needs you, it's in a crisis right now, and it needs your guidance before someone does something drastic and stupid to destroy this peace."

"That's just it, what am I supposed to do? I'm not a scholar who knows how to fix an economy, or a diplomat to fix international relations. I'm just a kid!" Aang yelled as he looked over at Zuko.

Zuko passively and calmly stared back as he replied, "That's just it, these people are old and learned, and know how to fix these problems. But they're used to hating the fire nation, and can get stuck in their old ways. You are still young and have a strong sense of what's right and wrong. You are the voice of reason when their temper can get the better of these people."

Aang nodded as they walked out to the top of the hull of the ship where Aang got on. All the guards there immediately bowed to them both, and Zuko just waved it off quickly and yelled, "At ease, carry on."

Aang sighed as he walked off the ship and muttered, "God, I'm never going to get used to that."

"You will, over time. But I need to go, and so do you. We are only one month away from the annual meeting of both Earth Kings, and there is a lot to do between now and then," Zuko replied as he stood at the top of the ramp and saw Aang off. Aang turned back as they waved at each other. The ship's engines started as it slowly began to pull out of the port and head back to the fire nation.

Aang walked back to Appa, where everyone was getting on board and ready to head back to Ba Sing Se. He flew up to the saddle and joined the others, all of them wanting to leave this dreadful island behind. But even with Katara's reassurances, Aang still felt like he should be out there finding Azula, and if he didn't something bad would happen. He could feel a sense of foreboding and uneasiness, like something horrible was going to occur because of this.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula flew over the ocean for what seemed like hours, but she didn't care. She was free, and her plans were in motion. First she needed to lay low for a while, get away from the fire nation, and start her recruiting process for followers. She knew that she would need to find the Dai Lee again and recruit them, but also, she would need to find some alienated fire benders, benders who were unhappy with the current way things were. If her plan would work she would need both to win against the Avatar. But that wouldn't work when she was in a very noticeable bright red war balloon, especially when she was the only one for miles.

Azula saw the coastline in the distance and sped as fast as she could muster to land. As it grew closer, Azula realized one important thing…she didn't know how to land this thing. She always got someone else to do it. There was nothing she could really do about it now, so she would have to do her best. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking this through, and then realized there was really no other option.

She opened the lid and the balloon jerked as she dropped down rapidly. She quickly shut the lid and it stopped. She opened it slightly this time and made a slow descent. Unfortunately, she was already over the land, and the strip of land not covered by trees was very small, and she was rapidly gaining on the forest. If she opened the lid full now, she would hit the ground, but she would hit it fast and hard. She decided instead to rise a little and maintain and altitude just over the tree tops and try to find an opening.

But as she flew along, she didn't notice that one of the trees was just a little bit taller than the rest. Her basket caught the tip of it caught the straw that lined the side of the basket. The basket jerked backwards roughly and Azula grabbed the nearest thing she could to stay in the basket. Unfortunately, that happened to be the lever that opened the lid of the balloon and held the hot air in. The balloon started to deflate and it sunk into the trees.

"No!" Azula yelled as she shut the lid and filled the balloon with her fire to heat the air, but too late. It had fallen low enough that it got tangled and ripped in the top of the trees. The hot air left through the holes, and the structure fell on top of the trees. The basket was now only being held up by the treetops, but gravity was stronger. She fell rapidly as the balloon and ropes snapped from the strain. She plummeted down to the ground in the basket, unable to do anything. The side of the basket caught a branch and flew sideways, sending her flying out. She flew to the left through branches and hit the ground with a loud, sickening thud.

Azula stood up without using a tree and came to an odd realization. Right now she should be in shocked pain on the ground, unable to move, but she was standing up just fine. Interested, she looked around and found a chunk of mental, as long as her thumb, but sharp and jagged. As she held it, she brought it up and swiped it on her forearm, already covered in small cuts. It cut about a half an inch deep, and would have evoked a wince from the toughest of men, but she felt…nothing.

Curious, she truly looked over herself. She was covered in darkening, fresh bruises and cuts, a pretty deep one on her leg, but she didn't feel a thing. She poked her hand lightly with her finger, and she felt it there, but it was odd. She felt the wounds on her, and tasted the blood in her mouth, but she didn't feel pain. This was curious, something she would have to look into. Looking over herself, she realized she would need a doctor, and probably soon, she wasn't in good condition, but she could move fine. Maybe she could ask the doctor why she wasn't feeling pain.

She looked up, and her mind reeled. The balloon was deeply tangled in the trees, which complicated things. She planned on landing somewhere where she could reduce the balloon to ash, leaving no trace of her presence, but now that didn't seem possible. If she burned it now, she would start a very large forest fire, and random forest fires with a lot of smoke when a fire nation fugitive was on the run would surely attract unwanted attention. So although she knew the balloon would give the agents searching for her a lead, but it was in the middle of nowhere, and by the time they found it, she would have built some distance between it and her.

She walked for hours in the direction she remembered a town being on the map, but after a while, began to hope she had been correct, realizing that at this point one degree off course and she could miss this town by miles, a hazardously large distance on foot, and she didn't feel like living on nuts and berries for a week that she couldn't spare. Lucky for her, she broke through the foliage to a road, and about a mile down the road, she saw the lights of a small town getting ready to settle down for the night. There couldn't be more than a hundred people living there, but she just prayed they had a good doctor.

She walked along and noticed a small cart coming down the road away from the town. She got prepared to play her part, and when it was about two hundred yards away, just a black blob with barely noticeable colors in the fading light, she faked a pass out as she fell face first to the ground. Glancing up for a second, she saw the cart speed up a little before closing her eyes and lying there while the patter of an ostrich-horse's feet grew louder.

"Dad, what is it?" Asked a very young female voice, just barely a pre-teen, if that.

"I think it's a girl, and she looks hurt. We need to help her," replied a much older voice, her father obviously, who stopped the cart.

She heard the footsteps of him drawing closer, and felt him flipping her over so he could see her face. Almost a month in prison had made her hardly recognizable to her former self, like a distant cousin. He waited a second, obviously taking in her wounds, like the gash on her arm and leg, other cuts and bruises, and then he felt arms wrapping around her legs and arms as he picked her up bridal style. She felt him lift her higher, and then was set up on a seat of some sort, probably where the driver sat. Sure enough, she felt the weight shift as someone sat next to her, and the man mutter, "Come on Seya, you can sit on my lap," obviously the little girl, stood up and sat on his lap.

Azula felt the kart turn around and head back at a brisk pace back to town. While it moved, she was trying to think of a convincing cover. She was in rags, so she can't exactly say she was walking on the road or in the woods and got attacked, that wouldn't change her cloths. Her clothes were in such terrible condition they wouldn't even pass as peasant clothes. Then the idea formed in her head as she went into town "unconsciously" of an acceptable cover story. People wouldn't guess her injuries or her clothes, they would only feel pity, and she would just need to play the part.

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**I had someone ask me in message why the story title in the chapters has a dash, but the actual link to it in the story selection does not. I told him very agitatidly because the web site doesn't recognize dashes in titles, the bastards. I was so angry that i ranted forever. Does that make you mad too? Why don't you tell me about it, and we can be mad togeather! if you want, you can even tell me how much you like the story and we could give it hate-filled praise togeather. Doesn't that sound paradoxially entertaining and inviting? you should find out by clicking that awesome review button. GOOD TIMES TO BE HAD FOR ALL!!**


	8. Chapter 8: Reunited and Separated

**Hey guys. Managed to get this one out, but this is the last update till probably monday or tuesday. i have to pack up the computer tomorrow, no way around it. I managed to finish updating this chapter to post it for you though, hopefully to tide you over till then. Some interesting things happen this chapter, one i am particularly fond off, so without any more delay, enjoy! XD**

**Disclaimer: Screw it...**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 8: Reunited and Separated

They flew along, almost back at Ba Sing Se. Aang still had to meet with the Earth King again for the meeting he skipped out on yesterday to go on his date. The rest of the group had to get the rest of the supplies they left at their home in Ba Sing Se, things that weren't the bare essentials. The items would be safe there, but that doesn't mean they didn't want them.

Sokka had fallen asleep, his headache coming back now that the fuss was over, and he was beginning to fully grasp how bad his hangover was after the third puke stop. His head was throbbing, and the ice pack, as much as he wished it did, didn't actually help all that much.

"I warned you not to drink so much," Suki playfully scolded, all jokingly, as she rubbed his back while he was doubled over.

He looked up, wiping some residue from the corner of his mouth, and replied, "You did? It's mostly a giant blur after Aang and Katara started dancing on the lake."

The sun was beginning to set and Katara was growing impatient as she yelled, "You know if you could control yourself, we wouldn't be in this position. At this rate, we won't reach Ba Sing Se before the sun sets!"

"You want to trade positions right now?" Sokka asked as he doubled over once more.

Katara just shook her head with pity and walked back to Appa. Aang was already there, securing their supplies. Toph stood by Appa, ready to go, but not really wanting to leave the ground quite just yet. She really hated flying, but she also wanted to go back to Ba Sing Se more than anything, it was taking much longer then she would have liked.

Sokka stood up once more and announced, "Okay, I think I'm good for now."

Suki helped him back to Appa as they set off to fly again for the fifth time today. But lucky for everyone, after a good half hour, they could see the walls of Ba Sing Se, right as the sun was starting to drop below the horizon. In another hour, they were over the city. Sokka pleaded, "Hurry Aang, I don't feel so good again."

"Please hurry buddy, I don't want to clean up the saddle again," Aang asked Appa, who, even though he was tired, urged himself to go a little faster and close the distance to the house.

As soon as they landed Sokka hopped down and rushed to the house, claiming the bathroom first. Everyone else shook their heads as they slowly hopped down. Aang stayed up and began to pass down the supplies they had.

He threw Suki her bag and Sokka's bag, which she took them and went inside to help her boyfriend again. He then passed down Katara's bag and his bag, and she set them in the corner until they were done. Toph brought Appa some hay and went to go accept her bag. Aang was bout to pass it down when he noticed something odd. Sticking out of Toph's bag was a long object wrapped in brown cloth.

He picked up and asked curiously, "Hey Toph, what's this brown thing?"

"It's nothing, just give me my bag, I got to go talk to my what will be former employer," She said a little too calmly and quickly, leaving Aang and Katara's suspicions aroused, but decided not to question her on the topic.

Just as she was about to leave, Sokka came out with Suki to help unpack. Toph turned to Sokka and dropped her bag to grab the brown object as she said, "Hey Snoozles, I got something here for you. Iroh wanted me to give it to you, and you seem to be well enough to stand, so here."

She handed Sokka the mysterious object who took it and began to unwrap it. As he unbound the top, he saw a hilt of something very familiar. No longer bothering with keeping the cloth in good condition, he ripped it off and found in his hands something he had never expected to see again.

"It's my…sword," He whispered quietly as he held reverently his black sword that he lost during the defeat of Fire Lord looked up at Toph, tears starting to brim in his eyes.

"Yea, and your boomerang is somewhere in that cloth over there that you threw down," Toph replied as she picked up her bag again, pointing to it.

Sokka stood there, dumbfounded, and could only manage to force out a simple and weak, "How…?"

Toph shrugged as she replied, "Iroh told me his white lotus buddies found it while they were helping to clear the area quickly of the wreckage of the downed ships."

Sokka dropped his sword as he ran over and gave Toph and exuberant hug. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "Thank you so much. This is the best gift I have ever received in my life, I can't ever repay you."

Toph, after a second of bliss, pulled away and replied, "Alright mister teary, let go. Besides, it's Iroh who got it for you, and I think that necklace Aang paid for is a much better gift. A sword is pretty weak, can't really compare to my bending."

With that Toph turned around and began to walk down to her private apartment near Iroh's teashop, still pretending to be tough. Sokka just smiled as he turned around to pick up his sword and find his boomerang in the pile of cloth. Suki smiled exuberantly, almost as large as when she received her betrothal necklace, and fingered that necklace quietly extremely happy and grateful, and not only because Sokka got his sword back…

Sokka ran in to grab the cases for his sword and boomerang, and swung them happily over his shoulder and on to his back. They finished unpacking very happy, all in a very good mood, which was a much needed change, no matter how short it may last for the rest of them besides Sokka, from the old depressed mood of the Boiling Rock.

When they were done, everyone sat down at the table as Katara and Suki prepared dinner, but Aang ran through, grabbed some fruit, and headed for the door as he kissed Katara on the cheek.

Katara turned around and pouted a little as she called, "Where are you going, aren't you going to eat?"

Aang turned around from the front door and called to her, "Sorry, I can't I have to go met the Earth King, I've put this off for too long as it is."

Katara sulked a little as she turned around and began chopping the vegetables and muttered under her breath, "But I wanted to make him a special dinner…"

Suki put her hand on Katara's forearm as she whispered, "It's okay, he'll try to be back quick for you, you know Aang, he loves it when you cook anything for him."

Katara smiled gently in return and continued on their work, Sokka blissfully unaware of this entire conversation, was content drawing his sword and putting it back in it's sheath. But he did ask one thing, "Hey, you guys think it's odd that Aang kind of _wanted_ to go that meeting. Yesterday he couldn't stand them."

Katara shrugged and replied, "I don't know, maybe he came to some sort of realization. All I can say that if he stops stressing over them now, then I'm not complaining."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang flew on his glider quickly into the palace to the throne room, where the Earth King was sitting and talking to one of the generals. As soon as they saw Aang, the general bowed and excused himself. Aang walked up to the throne and bowed to the Earth King, who bowed back and announced jubilantly, "Aang, my good friend, it is good to see you again. I hope your trip has gone well."

Aang looked away and replied, "Not exactly. Azula escaped and brutally murdered many people, the death toll is around fifteen at the moment. Zuko wanted me to pass on to you the need for you to send all the intelligence operatives you have to the coast near the fire nation, which we believe she would be heading. He is checking his own nation and sent a few of his own men to check it out, and the Water Tribe fleet will be patrolling the waters looking for anything unusual, any sign of her."

"Oh dear, this is bad news. I'm not sure this is such a good idea, sending my black ops agents into Fire Nation colonies," the king mused with an uneasy expression.

"We don't really have a choice, do we? We don't have any people left to search with besides yours," Aang replied hurriedly, the thought of being turned down not crossing his mind.

"What about those White Lotus people who saved my city?" He rebutted desperately desperately.

"Sir, neither of us have any control over them, and even so, I don't know what matters they do or concern themselves with, or even don't concern themselves with. We need _your_ people," Aang answered determinedly, not seeing any other options.

The Earth King sighed in defeat and muttered, "Yes, I guess you're right, I'll have my generals get on that. Anyway, you should know of some good news. After a couple hours of arguing, the generals decided to put off the decision. We need to rebuild some of the towns we have before we go to taking back territory. It should take a while, and give Zuko some time to prepare things for them, and give us time to discuss privately what we could do," The Earth King responded happily, and Aang brightened at this good news, glad something good had happened.

"I also received while you were gone a letter from the Northern Water Tribe saying that the chieftain needs to speak with you, some very odd happenings are going on. That was all he said, no details, but it sounded pretty urgent," The Earth King continued as Aang tilted his head to the side quizzically, wondering what it could be.

"Any other meetings I need to know about?" Aang asked quickly, trying to set his basis before he left, making sure he wasn't missing anything too important.

"Not unless you won't be back in a month for my meeting with Bumi and the other governors. There are a couple, but they're trivial, not international problems, I can handle them, but if you would like, we could go sit down for some tea," He offered politely.

Aang looked at the sun, which had nearly set. Katara wouldn't be done making dinner for another half an hour, so if he hurried, they could probably make it. "I would love to have tea, and I know a great shop on the upper ring, if you want to go there."

"I haven't left the palace in so long, that would be superb," he replied as he left to go fetch a carriage for both of them. Aang could get there much faster by flying, but figured he should spend some time with the King, see how things were going on the his home front. They stepped into the carriage and chatted about how the reconstruction was going, and how they were trying to get the refugees back to rebuild their homes, but some didn't want to go. Either way, the city was in desperate need of expansion, and he was sure to use this opportunity to do so. They also chatted about how trading was going, and how much they were now trading with the fire nation. Everyone is upgrading their homes and life styles with some of their technology, and the king was more then happy to accelerate this trading, knowing how much need Zuko was in of money to stimulate the economy, trying to build some demand, but it's hard to match the amount of demand a war had built, especially towards the end with the fleets of giant war balloons.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Iroh's teashop, and Aang lead the Earth King in. The guests in there were shocked to see the Earth King himself in the shop, and Iroh courteously met them at the entrance and bowed deeply, muttering, "The Earth King himself, what an honor to have you come to my humble tea shop. Please, tell me whatever you need."

The Earth King smiled and replied, "Please, do not trouble yourself too much for me. The Avatar just brought me here telling me the excellence of your tea. Please everyone, go about what you were doing," he added at the end to the entire shop.

"Thank you very much for the compliment. Please, right this way," Iroh said as he led Aang and the King to sit down in the corner near the back, and ordered some jasmine tea, and talked politics some more. Soon, Iroh came out with the tea personally and poured it for them. Aang smiled and replied, "Thank you a lot Iroh."

The Earth King stopped and said, "Wait, Iroh? As in _the_ Iroh? Dragon of the West Iroh?"

Aang looked down quickly, realizing what he let slip, and Iroh's smile faded a little as he replied, "Yes, it is me."

The Earth King stood up and shook his hand saying, "The Iroh who retook my city for me. How could I ever thank you enough, please, sit and have tea with us."

Aang beamed and Iroh's smiled widened and he replied jubilantly, "I would love to, it has been a long day of work."

"Please regale me with the tale of how you saved my city, I never got all of the details," The King asked as they all sat and listened to Iroh tell the tale of how he gathered the White Lotus, and how he attacked and took the city back in the middle of the comet, when the defenders were at their strongest. The King listened fascinated while they drank tea, trying to visualize what Iroh was saying in his mind.

"How could I ever repay you? You should be living in luxury, in a house almost as large as my palace for what you have done!" He exclaimed while he drained his cup.

Iroh shook his head and replied, "No thank you, I am very happy and content where I am right now. Consider me retaking the city atoning for my previous wrong doings."

Aang, who had finished drinking, announced, "As much as I would like to stay, Katara is making dinner, and I am going to be late, so please excuse me."

The King stood and bowed as he said, "Please do, and thank you so much for bringing me here. I have much to discuss with Mr. Iroh, so I think I will stay a little longer. By the way, this tea is exquisite!"

Aang stood and literally flew out the door back to his house, where dinner was just being served. Toph was there, sitting at the head of the table, leaning back on two of her chair legs. Sokka and Suki sat on one side, Sokka sitting near Toph, ready for the dinner. Katara's plate was on the other side as she began serving. "Room for one more?" Aang asked as he walked in the door.

Katara beamed as she set down the food, strolled over and hugged Aang as she whispered, "I'm really glad you could make it, I made a special dinner."

"What, and miss your cooking? Not for the world!" Aang exclaimed with a sweet grin that made Katara's heart melt from the sweetness of his words, especially coming from someone who held the fate of the world in his hands. Aang walked over to sit down as Katara grabbed another plate. She was not kidding when she said it was a special dinner. There was a very large fruit salad for everyone, and tomato soup with bread. On the table was a large heaping pile of spaghetti and a plate of chicken for those who wanted it.

Aang stared at the meal with awe as Katara put a plate for him next to her on the table and served him the food. "Wow, this is amazing Katara," Aang muttered as he sat next to her and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed a little as they all dug in. Sokka normally would have given Aang a warning glare, but was to enthralled by his newly reacquired sword to care much about anything.

Suki gave him a sideways glance and smiled a little as she sarcastically asked, "Who are you going to marry, me or that sword?"

"At the moment, I'm not really sure," He replied, sarcasm dripping in his voice as he leaned over and put his arm around her shoulder. Everyone laughed as they continued to eat. Aang told them of the mysterious letter he got from the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe and how he would have to leave in the morning.

"Sorry Twinkletoes, count me out on this one. I need to go visit my parents again, something about missing me more or something stupid like that," She told him, trying to hide the sadness in her voice, but at this point, everyone was seeing through her act, but didn't bring that up.

"Okay, I really didn't expect anyone to go, but I have to go, and I thought you guys should know," He replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

Katara looked mocked hurt as she asked, "You didn't think I would come with you?"

Aang snaked his arm around her shoulder and replied, "No, I just knew I wouldn't have to ask."

She smiled brightly as Sokka vaguely announced, still watching his sword, "Guess I better come with you two to keep you under control."

Suki looked down and muttered, "Well, I need to go back to the Fire Nation. I've been away from my team too long as it is, and I need to get back to them."

For the first time since he got his sword back, Sokka took his eyes off it and stared at Suki, looking like she just told him she had a fatal illness, and replied, "But…you…and me…and I just…I…I don't want you to go."

She hugged him and kissed him lightly on the lips as she whispered back, "I know, it hurts me too, but I need to get back to them, and now that you guys have gotten safely back to Ba Sing Se, I have to worry about Azula and my duties. With Azula on the lose, they need me now more then ever. I'm sorry Sokka, but we won't be gone long."

"Well, after we visit the North Pole, Zuko told me about some meeting and stuff," Aang said, not looking anyone in the eye. It was an obvious boldfaced lie, but Sokka appreciated the sentiment, knowing that Aang could get called away at a moments notice to go anywhere in the world.

Sokka looked down with a pained expression and whispered, "Well, I guess I could go with you."

Suki lifted his head and smiled as she cupped her hand around his cheek and muttered, "As much as my heart would love to do that, we both know you can't. You're the smart guy; you need to be informed to come up with strategies. You're more intelligent then anyone I've ever meet in my life, and we both know that in this dark time, the Avatar will need your brilliance."

As wonderfully nice as that comment was, it did nothing to brighten Sokka's demeanor. He looked away and stood up as he muttered, "I'm not hungry."

Everyone's jaw dropped at this statement, knowing that he had only had one plate of food. Aang thought it was joke for a minute until he started to walk up the stairs and Aang whispered quietly to everyone, "_Holy crap,_ he's serious."

"Sokka, wait!" Suki called as she got up and went after him.

The other three sat there, playing with their food and not actually eating it. Toph was the first to break the silence as she muttered, "Well that was a bummer."

Aang and Katara grunted in agreement as Toph went up to the guest room that was reserved for her, considering she sold her lease on her current apartment and quit her temporary job, getting ready to go back to her parents. That left Aang and Katara alone, sitting in an awkward silence while they stared at their food. Aang muttered to her, "Dinner was delicious."

"Yea," she replied quietly, still starring down.

"Come on," Aang muttered quietly as he lead her outside to the courtyard.

"What is it AaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNG!" Katara started and ended up yelling as Aang picked her up bridal style and air bended them up to the roof.

They landed smoothly and Aang set Katara down as he said, "Sorry for that,"

She caught her breath and tried to calm her heart rate as she muttered, "It's okay just…next time, give me a little warning."

Aang smiled and sat on the roof and Katara sat next to him. They stared up at the stars and the full moon, watching the stars in wonder. Aang glanced over and saw Katara, and just how beautiful she looked as the stars radiated of her skin, making her glow like a goddess. It just hit him how lucky he was to have found her as he whispered, "I love you."

She turned to face him with her knees to the side as she smiled warmly as she whispered back, "I love you too."

Aang leaned in and took her lips once more, and lived in the bliss of being near her and holding her. They lay on the roof for quite some time, in each other's arm, switching back and forth from watching the stars and kissing until Katara started to get tired and they went to bed, both very happy and content.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula finally reached the doctors house, where she lay perfectly calm and motionless, playing the part of and exhausted passed out girl. The doctor started to talk with the man about the condition he had found her in, and at this point, Azula thought she should wake up, tired of pretending to sleep.

She pretended to stir and opened her eyes, making a soft and quite moan laced with fictional pain. She got her first view of the house, and saw she was on a cot in the corner of a green room, staring at the ceiling. She looked to her left to get a full view of the room, and saw a handful of cots that lined the wall opposite the door, and a little girl sitting next to her bed staring at her, whom she assumed was Seya. She could only be ten, no older, and had long chestnut brown hair that went down to her waist, strait and simple. She had dazzling green eyes, and watched her with concern.

Behind her, an old doctor rushed over in a simple white robe. He was very aged, with a bald dome and gray hair lining the sides of his head, which were laced with wrinkles. He wore small glasses, oddly reminiscent of the Earth King, which covered bright gold eyes signature of the fire nation. The man next to him was the one she assumed brought her here. He was tall and stood very strait, like a former military soldier. He had crows' feet at the corners of his eyes, and a little bit of dark grey developing at his side burns. He was very muscular, with a large burn scar going along the right side of his face. He wore a straw hat covering his very short dark brown hair, his eyes also a bright green. He wore blue overalls and an undershirt like that of a farmer, which would explain why he was leaving town at that time of day, probably selling food to the local market.

"My lady, how do you feel? You are in terrible condition, please, how did this happen?" The old doctor asked quizzically, obviously trying to make a diagnosis of some sort.

Azula sat up a little and fake winced and grabbed her side as she fell back down to the pillow. She turned her head towards them and muttered in a very weak voice, "I had escaped…some pirate slavers. I was afloat for three days, and ended on this shore. After drifting through the woods, I made it here."

"You escaped?" The father asked curiously with a very deep voice.

"Barely. I was running and made it to the top where I was cornered. I only had two options, jump or stay captured. I decided to jump. They treated me terribly, beating me and taking advantage of my weakened state," She whispered as she forced some fake tears. It wasn't all that hard, she prided herself on being able to lie well.

"You poor girl, please, stay here as long as you need, on my pay," The father said as he lead his daughter out.

The doctor walked over and removed her shirt so he could see her undergarments and her injuries. "Oh dear," He whispered, "These are terribly bad. And I do believe this bruise is from a broken rib, and some internal injury. You must be in terrible pain."

Azula took the chance while he examined her wounds to reply, "But that's the odd thing doctor, it doesn't. Watch, pass me that knife."

He did so curiously, wondering if what she said was true, and saw her take the knife and make a small cut in her hand, her face not changing at all, showing no bit of pain. "Curious, curious…" he muttered to himself as he got up and went to the icebox, crabbing two ice cubes.

"Tell me, my dear girl, do these feel cold to you?" He asked as he handed those to her.

To Azula's surprise, it didn't. She felt the ice, but it didn't feel cold at all. "No," She whispered softly, her eyes filled with wonder.

"What about this?" he asked as he brought a candle close to her. She put a finger right in the flame, not bothering to fire bended, and she didn't feel a thing, but saw her skin begin to redden and pull away.

"What's wrong with me?" She asked quietly and for the first time in quite some time, truthfully.

"It's curious, I have not actually seen this case, but merely heard of it. After someone is deeply hurt and traumatized, like you have been, their head tries to shut down the pain and hurt, and they literally turn off their pain receptors. As a side effect, it can also sometimes affect temperature, which you seemed to have developed. I have never actually seen someone with it, merely read it in texts. It normally comes from someone who suffers incredible mental and emotional damage. The only physical damage that could have come close to causing this is someone near death, when they go into shock. This is more or less a more permanent state of shock, a modern medical mystery. You my young lady are a marvel, the secrets your mind may hold. I have no idea what those pirates could have done to you, but it must have been terrible. Please rest here as long as you need to," He said as he applied some herbs to her wounds to help them heal faster, which normally had people screaming in pain, but she was already lost in her thoughts, about the betrayal she suffered from everyone, and the gifts she received for it. Now she had the tools to exact her revenge.

"Well, this is much easier to treat when I don't have to use the restraints. May I ask young girl what your name is?" The doctor asked with a small smile as he treated her wounds.

Azula stumbled at this, because that was the one thing she forgot, the simplest of things. Thinking quickly on her feet, metaphorically of course, she muttered, "Mai, my name is Mai."

The doctor gave her a quick piercing gaze for a half second with a small smile on his face while he responded, "Well Mai, I hope you get better soon. Excuse me while I go get some medicine for you."

With that the doctor left and went to the back room and locked the door behind him. He opened a secret door behind a shelf and went into a back room. He grabbed a scroll and some ink and wrote a quick note.

_Dear Iroh,_

_She's here, why don't you send some of your flowers and we can have a party. She seems to be in an odd mood, like she doesn't feel anything, not a pain in the world._

With the coded message done, he rolled it up, slipped it into the compartment on the back of a messenger hawk bearing a white lotus, and let it fly out a secret tunnel that opened up outside of town. Azula had been found out.

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**METEOR SWORD RETURNS!! yea, i never liked when Sokka lost that, was the one thing that made him unique and awesome besides his plans, so i was determined when i originally set out to make this story that he would get it back somehow, and he has! Also like Azula's little illness, which is only the tip of the ice berg really, but people needed some knowledge of what was going on, i stressed it so much. The symptoms of it are loosely based on a disease called Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), and before anyone asks, yes i got it from watching House, one of my favorite shows ever. But the cause has absolutely nothing to do with the real disease at all, so don't try to piece anything together from it. If you do have any ideas about Azula, or comments on Sokka's sword, feel free to tell me, and i'll probably laugh at how off they are, but at least you'll know you're going on the wrong track and to keep trying. You keep trying, i'll keep answering. Who knows, you might get it right, just like wings might spread out of my arse and fly me to space. Until next time, much love to all my dedicated readers, and i'll talk to you again soon ;).**


	9. Chapter 9: The First

**Hey guys, i know that i'm posting this sooner then expected, but that's because i really was to excited to wait, so i copied the original chapter 9 off the web site, did my editing, and am now re-posting it for you. Mostly because this is one of my favorite chapters, and i really enjoyed writing this. lots of development with Aang and Azula, lot's of nice details, and a little peak into the ever evolving psychosis of Azula. i'll have to go and copy the changes onto my copy on my main computer, but it was worth it XD. i hope you enjoy this chapter as much as i was when i was writing it. And for those of you who have pointed out oh so subtly, yes my disclaimers are an ever evolving story/rant, one that i particularly enjoy doing :).**

**Disclaimer: No, i said no, i'm not doing this. Everyone with half a brain knows i don't own Avatar, i don't see the point in reiterating it just for your sick pleasure you nazi bastard.**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 9: The First

Aang, Katara, and Sokka, had flown for about one and a half days and should reach the North Pole by sundown. Aang looked down and patted Appa while he said to one of his closest friends, "Maybe we won't get frozen this time, right buddy? You got it from here right?"

Appa roared a yes and Aang hopped back into the saddle to see Katara and Sokka. Katara was reading a book she bought in Ba Sing Se, some romance mystery novel filled with action she said was awesome. If Aang ever had a spare second he might look at it, but until he stopped being the Avatar, that wouldn't happen any time soon. She seemed to be very deep in her book and didn't even notice Aang sit next to her, which was peculiar indeed.

Sokka, conversely, was still pouting. Even though he wore his sword and boomerang on his back, he looked like a homeless puppy, so sad and lost. He had been like this since they left.

_Toph had already left. The group had gotten up and said goodbye to her after breakfast, she said she needed to get an early start. And as they all packed, a silence began to grow over them. Sokka hadn't even left his room yesterday, which worried them all, and they could occasionally hear some yelling from Sokka and Suki upstairs, but it was mostly quiet. She only spent a good half an hour up there before coming down, her eyes blood shot, and she excused herself. Aang and Katara felt it time to make themselves scarce, and fly to the roof to overhear the conversation that was about to take place in the kitchen._

"_So…" Suki started quietly, not really sure what to say. She looked up at Sokka, who wore a very pained expression after just walking down. They were standing in front of each other, knowing that Suki had a ship she needed to get to. They knew that now was the time to say bye, but neither could._

"_Look, Sokka I-," Suki started before Sokka interrupted her._

"_I was hopping yesterday was a bad dream, and that I would wake up and find you here in Ba Sing Se, but that couldn't be the case," Sokka looked down and his shoulders sagged as he turned around to finish his packing, but Suki seized his wrist._

_She turned him around and pulled him into a very passionate kiss. This went on for twenty seconds until Sokka realized what was actually going on here and reluctantly pulled away. Suki cupped his cheek and whispered, "It will be okay Sokka, and everything is going to be alright. We won't be apart for too long, and you know where I'll be. I have to do this, but as soon as the heat dies down I'll come see you again."_

_Sokka pulled her into a tight embrace and buried his head in her hair as he said, "But that's just it, that's the problem. How long will it take for us to put Azula in jail? And after that you still have your duties to the warriors, and I'm the son of the southern water tribe chieftain, we'll both be busy and would we even be able to see each other? And what if Azula attacked Zuko, you could get hurt and I wouldn't be there to protect you and I don't know what I would do if you…"_

_Suki held him tighter and Sokka felt his shirt start to get damp as he heard Suki mutter, her voice shaky, "I know, I'm terrified for you too. You travel with the Avatar, what if she decided to go after you first? I don't know if I could go on if you…but I can't think that way. We both know what we have to do, and we will be fine. We just have to hope and persevere and we will see each other again."_

_Sokka's shirt was now seeped with Suki's tears and he felt some fall from his own eyes. He wanted to believe Suki, and hope everything would be okay, but there was always a persistent thought in the back of his mind that this may be the last time he sees her. Sokka leaned down and gave her a small kiss on her forehead as he whispered, "We'll be okay," while he was wrestling with his own doubts._

_She leaned up and kissed him deeply one more time, trying to get as much out of that kiss as possible. She pulled away slowly and whispered in Sokka's ear, "I love you."_

"_I love you too," Sokka whispered back in her ear, and with that Suki pulled away, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door, tears beginning to stream down her face. Sokka stood there a little stunned, watching her go, before he collapsed on the chair and yelled out, "You guys can go now!"_

_Aang and Katara quickly vacated the roof and the general area, knowing to give the two their space. It was at this time Katara decided they should give Sokka a little time before leaving. It was then that Aang and Katara went and found a bookstore and decided to have a peak around before going. Katara picked out a couple of books and Aang found a history book about the war he thought would be useful. He had specific memories of people talking about famous battles and people he had never known of, being at the time frozen in ice. He decided, now that he wasn't on the run living in the forest as much, it was time he spent some time to educate himself, even though there was a small voice in the back of his mind that told him this was partially his fault. He suppressed the voice as much as he could by telling himself that there was nothing he could have done, and would have died with the rest of the air benders, but it never fully went away._

_They walked chatting, books under their arms, and came to the house to find Sokka sitting on the porch on his bag, wearing the expression that would plaster his face for the next two days. They asked if he was okay, but he didn't respond or even acknowledge their presence. Aang said they had better get going, and Sokka silently got up, climbed Appa, put his pack down, and sat in a corner of the saddle starring out at nothing, where he would remain for the entire trip._

He had been like this since they left. He didn't say or do anything when they set down for camp yesterday, just ate one fruit and went to bed without a word. This left Katara worried, but Aang held her back, telling her he still needed some space. Katara looked up from her book as Aang put his arm around her and asked, "Does he still need time?"

Aang sighed in defeat, for she had been pestering him every hour of the day since he told her this and said, "Fine, I give up, go talk to him. All I know is that I would be doing the same thing in his shoes, and I wouldn't want to talk to anyone. But fine, go ahead and try, I'm going to go back to Appa for when this all blows up in your face."

Aang waved his hand around Katara and Sokka for emphasis for his final point, but Katara waved Aang's last bit of advice off with a roll of her eyes as she went to sit next to her brother. He did not acknowledge her presence or move at all, much as Katara had expected he would. She decided to just dive right in as she asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Sokka didn't move.

Katara wouldn't give up quite so easily, "Come on, I'm your sister, you can talk to me about anything."

Sokka rolled over on his side away from her.

Katara was now officially mad at being blown off as she shook his shoulder and yelled, "Come on Sokka, talk-!"

Sokka interrupted with the first words he had said since Suki left and yelled, "LEAVE ME _**ALONE!**_"

Katara backed off and sat back near the front of the saddle where she had been and picked up her book again in defeat. Aang stood up and leaned against the edge of the saddle from Appa's head as he muttered in a singsong voice, "I told you so." Katara gave Aang a venomous glare that Aang passively took and calmly shrugged off, going back to flying.

Soon they arrived at the North Pole and was greeted by the entire tribe at the gate. They landed to lots of waves and praise, the last time they had seen any of them was during the Siege of the North. The city showed no signs of the battle, but walls of ice were easy to rebuild in a city of water benders.

The group walked up to the Water Tribe palace and entered to find the chief who welcomed them warmly. They all went and sat down in his chamber for a very large feast with the entire village. After they had finished the food and entertainment, Aang turned to the chief and asked, "So what's this spiritual problem I heard about?"

The chief began to dismiss the village and his features became darker as he muttered, "Your going to have to see this one for yourself." With that he stood and led Aang and Katara to the spiritual oasis. Sokka opted to go to his room and pout some more without a word. The chief was about to open the door to the oasis when he stopped and stood up, starring at the two and asked, "Are you sure your ready for this?"

Aang and Katara glanced at each other nervously before Aang nodded and the chief opened the door. The two had their jaws drop at the sight. The oasis looked the exact same, but every bit of it was glowing bright blue, every blade of grass and every inch of water, all bright blue. Aang stepped in nervously and immediately began to feel a sharp pain at the base of his skull and in his head. He collapsed to his knees and held his head tightly at the pain, and immediately felt a presence behind him, probably Katara, who wrapped her arms around him to try to comfort him, but Aang could barely feel it, like his feelings had become numb and distance. Even when he whispered he was fine, his voice felt faint and distant.

"Aang, we should turn around, I have a strange feeling that something just isn't right," Katara whispered half-pleading, half-fearful.

Aang turned and saw her shaking nervously and wrapped his arm around her as he whispered in response, "I know, I feel it to, but I'm the only one who can fix this. What's new?"

While he was supported by Katara, they walked farther into the dwelling, even though Aang was barely walking. He worked hard to fight back the pain in the back of his skull, but with each new step, it became more invigorated, more powerful. They walked on the bridge and the pain was so terrible, Aang had to clench his eyes and hands shut. Katara looked over worryingly. She was starting to develop a bad headache, but whatever was affecting her was affecting him a hundred fold. While they walked on the bridge Katara almost had to carry him to the oasis.

As soon as Aang's foot touched the grass, she was blown back by a wave of energy. She sat up and looked to find Aang was hovering about a foot off the ground, his back arched and head flung back to almost unnatural extremes. She tried to get close while she shouted, "Aang!" but felt herself being forced back, like she was fighting a powerful wind. Aang hovered over to the lake and hung there, his features contorted in pain, which made Katara even more afraid.

The blue glow from the surrounding area began to circle Aang in a sphere of light. Katara could barely see him through the light when it suddenly struck his body like a thousand shards of ice. Katara vaguely felt tears fall from her eyes as she watched the bombardment as Aang's entire body began to glow a bright blue. She saw his body begin to seize from each hit, eyes and mouth flash open, the blue light escaping from them, and then slowly recede from his body, until only his arrows were glowing with the blue light as if he was in the Avatar State.

His body suddenly went limp and collapsed in the water, and Katara couldn't hold herself back anymore. She ran over to pull Aang out of the water, who floated face down. She picked him up from the knee deep water and set him down on the shore, tears openly falling. She felt a pulse, but it was faint and shouted, "Aang, Aang can you hear me!? Wake up!"

His arrows still glowed the same blue, but he didn't move or show any sign he had heard her. She pulled his body into a tight embrace, but didn't feel his limp form hug back, and tears fell more. She vaguely registered that her headache had gone away, but in its place was an overwhelming feeling of dread. "Aang…" she whispered quietly as she buried her head in his shoulder, pleading to the spirits to have him holder her back. She needed to hear his voice right now to comfort her and tell her this was all okay.

"Is he alright?" The chief asked, but Katara vaguely registered his presence.

"I…I don't know, he's never been yanked into the spirit world like this, normally he goes on his own," She whispered quietly, her voice very shaken and worried. She pulled Aang closer, even though his limp body didn't respond, and buried her fears in his chest.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang wretched his eyes open and found himself in a realm of pure white. He glanced around and saw nothing, anywhere at all, not even the floor he felt himself lying on. He rolled over and sat up, trying to shake the receding headache as he called out, "Katara, are you here? Where are you?"

"She is fine, young air bender," Aang heard a distant and airy voice whisper as if it was right next to him and at the same time thousands of miles away. The voice rang like a thousand angels reflecting their voices in a small glass room.

"Who said that?" Aang asked as he spun around, trying to find the source. All he saw was the same blank nothingness.

"I did," Aang heard from distinctly behind him. He turned and saw what looked like a water tribe woman in her late twenties, standing with her arms behind her back, smiling nicely, as she rocked back and forth on her feet. She vaguely reminded Aang of Katara with her amazing blue eyes, but the rest was different. She was taller and her straight hair fell down her back with a lose braid resting on top of it.

"And who are you?" Aang asked as he turned to face her.

"I'm the first Avatar," She said with a kind smile and waved him over as if she was greeting a long lost friend.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula stood up, curious as to where the good doctor had gone. She went to the door the doctor went through and tried to open it, but found it was locked. "Now, what is the good doctor trying to hide?" She asked with a twisted smile on her face as she melted the lock.

She pulled the door open with ease now that the handle had melted away and found shelf upon shelf of medicine. The room must have been twenty yards in length and width, stocked with medical supplies. Azula was about to turn back when she noticed something odd…no doctor.

She turned around and yelled in a high-pitched demented voice, "Oh doctor, come out come out wherever you are."

She walked past shelf after shelf, not finding a thing until she noticed something odd on the wall. In between two shelves was a brick wall, but was odd about this wall was that all the bricks between the shelves lined up perfectly to form a straight line from the top of the shelf to the floor. She saw on the other side of the shelf to her left it did the same thing except for two bricks where hinges would normally be.

"I wonder what's behind door number one?" She asked to herself quietly as she kicked the door open forcibly with a fire blast. In the room was a lit lamp on a desk with a lot of paper. Above it was a fairly large hole in the wall that she barely caught a glimpse of a hawk flying through. What really amazed her was on the hawk's case was a special symbol. She saw the doctor standing in front of the desk, stunned silent.

"Well hello doctor, funny place to find you isn't it? So, who was the letter for?" She asked as she turned her head to the side and a devilish smile spread across her face. She approached him slowly and saw the doctor flinch and back up.

"My wife," he said, his voice calmer then his body language would lead one to believe.

"Really, but that was such an odd symbol on the hawk, it almost looked like a _white lotus_," She said as she stood in front of the doctor, who stood there and stared her down. A silence dawned on them both, as they both knew what was about to happen.

The doctor did a front flip with much more agility then Azula would have thought he had and sent a wall of fire at her with his heel, but she smoothly side stepped it. The doctor then spun and sent a fire arc at her, which Azula easily leaned back and ducked. The doctor then sent a fire blast at her, which she sidestepped again.

By this point, the doctor's age was starting to catch up to him as he began to wheeze and clutch his chest. Azula stood up and raised her eyebrow and asked, "What, my turn already?"

Azula waved her arm and sent an arc at the doctor who had no time to react as it cut straight through his neck. His body fell to the floor limp as his head rolled away on the ground to Azula. She picked it up and whispered to the dead head, "You shouldn't have tried to tattle on me," and with that she flung it over her shoulder at a rack of jars that shattered and collapsed on the head, impaling it with hundreds of shards of glass, that Azula for some reason found beautiful and hilarious.

If the doctor had sent a message about her, she would need to build some distance between her and this town, but first she would need supplies. She could go see that family that had offered to take care of her and take some of their supplies. They live outside town so it would be easier to rob them then it would a store in town.

And so she walked outside town down the road she had pretended to pass out on to where the family lived. It was only a good half a mile from where she came out of the forest up the road when she found the man who helped her working in the field. He looked up and gave her a small smile as he called to her, "The doctor let you go?"

"He is very preoccupied and I didn't want to trouble him, so I decided to take you up on your offer for one night," She said to him as she forced herself to bow to this peasant, which was much more difficult then she had thought it would be. He waved her in where little Seya was sitting in the one room that combined a dinning room and kitchen, waiting for her mom to finish dinner.

She looked up and then ran over to hug Azula, who starred at her very awkwardly before gently patting her on the back. Hugging was not something she did often. Her father walked in a quickly reprimanded his daughter, "Seya, where are you manners?! You bow to a house guest, and you especially don't hug someone who was grievously injured!"

Seya backed away with a blush and bowed muttering, "I'm sorry. Welcome, my name is Seya."

"Um…it's okay," Azula replied very awkwardly. She had not expected such manners among peasants. No matter though, she would still need to gather her necessary supplies, manners or not.

"Please sit down, you must be tired from walking all that way with your injuries," The wife urged as she pulled out a chair.

"Thank you, but my injuries are not that bad, really," She muttered as she forced a smile, trying to play the picture of humbleness. She sat down as the mother served dinner. They ate in silence, the family too polite to bring up questions about her horrible fictional past. The food was not the cuisine Azula was used to, but after a month of prison food, it was delicious. Sick of the silence, Azula started to feed them some lies about life before slave traders captured her. It was the warmest dinner Azula had had in her life, and it made her stomach turn that she was forced to eat with these peasants, but she barred it with stride.

"Did you hear dear, about what happened in Shu Ten?" The wife began.

"No, what happened?" He asked as he looked up from his plate off food.

"That gang I told you about totally took over the town. The one that wore rock over their hands," She continued as Azula's head flew up.

"Rock's on their hands?" She asked curiously, wondering if that could be the Dai Lee.

"Yes, they came about two weeks ago and began to boss everyone around. They are terribly strong earth benders that like to bind people with earth they wear on their hands. They kicked out the old Earth Kingdom officers and took total control of the town," The wife elaborated. Azula was almost sure that it had to be them; she had her next destination.

Just as dinner was finishing and the mother began to clean up, there came a furious pounding at the door. Azula turned around while the man answered the door. In the door way was a young man in his twenties who was gasping for breath.

"Your late," The father said sternly.

"I'm sorry dad, but you won't believe what happened in town. The doctor was found in his clinic _beheaded!_" The son gasped out. His father turned from the door, eyes wide and stared at Azula.

"You…" He started but at a loss for words.

Azula stood with a sigh and wiped dirt from her simple prison uniform. She turned to face him and muttered, "I was really hopping to avoid this, but I guess I have no choice now. May as well go for the direct approach, I need supplies, and you will give them, unless you all want to end up like the doctor."

"You killed the doctor!" Seya yelled in terror and stood up to run, but her mother caught her.

"If anyone runs, they die," Azula muttered simply as she huddled them over by their father. They stood in fear as Azula continued, "I need a couple pairs of clothes from your wife's dresser, about a weeks worth of food that can travel easily, some camping supplies, and a ride. And just to show how serious I am…"

Azula pointed her hand straight at the son's leg and fired her red lightning, severing it completely. He howled in pain as he rolled on the grown clutching his new stub of a leg. Seya screamed in terror, and her father moved to attack, but was held back by his wife, who urged him to think rationally. He calmed down and crouched by his son one last time before sitting up to gather the requested supplies.

"Make sure the dresses are pretty or someone else may lose a limb, and be quick about it!" She called in a high pitch giddy voice, glad to be soon rid of these rags. She turned back to the son who still clutched his leg in pain. She pulled over a chair to sit in front of the trio while she muttered, "You know, you may want to burn that wound shut or he may bleed out. If you don't he may have to go see the doctor soon, although I don't know how much help he would be. Just a thought."

The mother glared daggers at Azula, who shrugged it off. Seya looked up, tears streaming her face as she asked, "Why, why would you do this?"

"Because it would be annoying to find all of these supplies if I killed you all. I have no idea where you keep everything," She said simply, the true question flying right over her head.

Within five minutes, the father returned with all the supplies she asked for, and even a carriage to ride on. Azula hopped up and muttered, "How thoughtful, I didn't even consider taking that."

"I wasn't offering it," The father whispered quietly under his breath.

"Well it's mine anyways, unless you care to see more blood spilt," Azula replied as she hopped up on the cart.

She began to drive away when she barely caught the whisper of, "Fire nation bitch,"

Azula immediately stopped the cart and did back flip, landing in front of the four by the doorway of their house and muttered maliciously, "Who said that?"

They all looked away in silence. "What, no one wants to come forward?" Azula asked silently as she looked from face to face, but no one would look her in the eye.

"Fine, then you all get to be punished!" She yelled with a twisted grin on her face as she did a roundhouse kick that arced and sent a wave of fire at the four. They were all sent back in a burst of flame. She strutted over and leaned over the four of them and picked up the wife by the hair and muttered, "Your first."

"NO!" Her husband yelled from his position and tried to get up, but in vain. Azula pointed her fingers at the woman's heart and unleashed lightning though her body, making it shutter and spasm in her grip before going limp.

She then turned to the man, who struggled with all of his might to get to her, but had trouble standing with his body seared and burnt. Azula muttered, "Angry? Don't worry, in a few moments, you won't feel a thing." With that, she put her foot on his chest while he kneeled before her, and unleashed a small explosion that ripped his body asunder, no more then a pile of limbs and seared flesh.

"You…you son of a bitch," The son whispered as he smacked his hand on the ground, sending a earth pillar up at Azula's feet to crush her against the ceiling, but she just hopped off and landed sitting on his chest.

"What, mad are we? Do we like saying mean things?" She asked in his ear while she held her hand over his mouth. She slowly began to heat up her hand and heard his muffled scream as she burnt his flesh and mouth to ash. "Well, lets make sure we don't do that again." She then heated up her hand more until his jawbone melted away. Some time during the process he died, but Azula didn't seem to notice, just kept burning until she was satisfied, which was when his eyes had rolled back into his skull and there was nothing left of the lower portion of his face.

"Mom…mommy, wake up," Azula heard a muffled whisper next to her. It was Seya, whose arm was burnt, but not too bad, and besides a few minor cuts and bruises, looked relatively unhurt. Azula stood and walked over to her. Seya looked up, tears streaming from her face. Azula pointed her middle and index finger at her, ready to fire her red lightning, but felt something odd. As much as she tried, she couldn't shoot her. It was maddening and perplexing.

"You can't hurt her Azula," She heard from a faint whisper form behind her. She turned and saw none other then Lady Ursa, standing in her fire nation gown, with a small frown on her face.

"_You!_ What are you doing here?!" Azula shouted at the image of her mother. Her mother stared back with pity and contempt.

"I'm here to stop your rampage, your destruction, your pain," she muttered quietly in a small airy voice.

"How could _you_ help a monster like me?! I hate you and you hate me!" Azula yelled as her rage began to raise the temperature of the room and boil the water on the stove.

Ursa shook her head in pity and gave a small smile, "I don't hate you Azula, I love you."

"You think you can control me, that _you_ know me?! I will kill this little girl right now!" Azula roared in paranoid fury as she picked up Seya by her collar. Seya, who had been watching this in shock the whole time as Azula yelled at someone who wasn't there, now screamed as Azula put her fingers to Seya's chest, ready to shoot her with lightning like she did her mom.

"No you won't. She's a sweet innocent, one of the first to show you the infallible kindness a child can bring, and you don't have it in your power to harm her, just like how you can't harm me," Ursa replied quietly as she held out her arms to embrace Azula.

Azula turned away, tears streaming as she screeched, "_Just shut up and_ _GO AWAY!_" She then cast her arm to Ursa and unleashed a massive cone of fire. The fire burnt everything in its path to ash, and when it died away, there was only a pile of burnt wreckage left of the house. Only the wall behind her that covered the corpses remained standing, about a fourth of the size of the actual house. There was no trace of Ursa, no body, no anything, as if she hadn't even been there.

Azula dropped the stunned girl on her butt and walked out the half archway that remained of the front door to the cart. With that she hopped up and rode away into the night, south to Shu Ten and the Dai Lee. Seya watched in silent fear and fury before returning to crying over the corpses of her family.

* * *

**Oh yes, the first avatar, Lady Ursa, Azula's near demonic behavior. lots of questions, lots of cliff hangers. i'm sure that this is making you all very irritated and curious, desprately seeking more knowledge. Well, give me a review, and i might just give you a little, push you in the right direction. Also, for some general knowledge for anyone who likes to know, someone asked me in a message where i got the inspiration for Azula's depraved insanity that i think everyone just noticed got jacked up another notch on the crazy meter. Well, i got to say that a lot of the inspiration came from the Joker in the Dark Knight. I loved the way he was magnificently portrayed as incredibly evil but bombastically entertaining and joking in his own demented way. But the entire reason behind her insanity is still unknown, although i did give everyone a slight hint. Got a guess, feel free to tell me, and we can find out if your right ;). i doubt it, but hey, you can find out and i get another review XD! but seriously, please review, i want to hear from the people reading my stories. i got over 100 hits on my last chapter and 4 reviews T-T.**


	10. Chapter 10: Spirit Bending

**Hey everyone, i got a special double update today, so i really hope you enjoy it. The first one gives a lot of information regarding Spirit Bending, if it's not obvious by the title. This should answer most of the question's i've received about it. The second is something i have been wanting to write about for a long time, and something i really wished happened in the show. I had a lot of spare time to kill today because all the places i need to go see were closed already. now i'm going to go watch a little TV, relax with some music, maybe read my Night Angel Trilogy, a really great series of books if anyone's interested. i should hopefully be able to post later this week, maybe tuesday or thursday, but that depends a LOT on the amount of work my classes give me. I also got a lot of class stuff to square away with a lot of people over the next couple days, so i'm going to be really busy. I hope this double helping can tide you over for a while. i'll talk to you guys when i can, and if you have any comments or questions or helpful hints, please feel free to review or message me, i appreciate both. without further ado, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: No Nazi man, i said no! don't make me get my flame thrower**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 10: Spirit Bending

Aang stood awestruck in front of the young woman who stood in front of him, claiming to be the first Avatar. Aang struggled with this in the back of his mind, trying to grasp the concept that he was in the presence of the first. His standing wavered for a moment as he asked, "Wait, you're the first Avatar?"

"Sure am," She replied with a light carefree smile.

"Shouldn't you be…older?" Aang asked curiously. All the other past lives he had meet had been very old looking, with wrinkles and everything, but she barely looked thirty.

"Why would I choose to appear to you old? I like the young me, she seems so prettier then some old hag," She replied as she walked over to him. Aang could understand that, but wondered why none of the other past lives of Avatar's had chosen to do that.

But Aang shoved that question out of his mind for now as something more pressing drew his attention, "Where are we?"

The young lady's brow furrowed a little as she muttered, "Now, how to answer that little question. The best explanation I can give you is that we are at a crossroads of our minds."

"Huh?" Aang asked as he raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.

The young woman sighed as she replied, "We are in an area where out minds are temporarily mingling so we can speak to each other."

"Why not just meet in the spirit world?" Aang asked quizzically.

"Because in this area, we can do more then just talk," She replied as she waved her hand in front of Aang, and as she did, Aang felt an odd sensation in his head, like someone was gently pulling on his brain looking for something, and before he knew what had happened, he watched a memory being replayed in front of him. He saw himself standing by a balcony in front of Iroh's teashop, watching the sunset.

Aang walked over awestruck to watch himself, staring off into the distance at the sunset. He reached over and touched his own arm to find that his hand went through the fake Aang's arm. Aang slowly began to pull the pieces together as he turned to find what he was expecting, Katara walking over to him. But she wasn't walking to him, and instead walked straight through the real Aang to the fake Aang to stand next to him. The two fictional people turned towards each other and embraced silently. Then the let go, stared into each other's eyes, and slowly leaned in to each other to kiss.

"This is from my memories. After the war, when Katara finally admitted her feelings for me," Aang muttered silently as he watched the scene from two feet away, and couldn't help but notice just how beautiful Katara was.

"Cute isn't it?" The Avatar asked as she walked up next to Aang and put her hand on his shoulder.

Aang glanced over to her and asked awestruck, "How-…?"

"Did I pull the memory from your mind? Pretty simple actually, I just used spirit bending," She replied calmly, and as she did, she waved her hand and the memory faded like rain on a glass window until they were standing back in the white emptiness.

"You know how-…? Spirit bending can do that?" Aang asked, still struggling to find words.

"Well, normally to see someone's memory, it requires more work and effort then that, but this a special place with special properties, which is why I brought you here," The first replied with a small smile.

"Who are you?" Aang asked in silent awe at just how much power and knowledge the person before him had.

"My name is Eltia, it's a pleasure," she replied as she held out her hand to shake Aang's.

Aang numbly shook back and muttered, "Eltia, that's an unusual name."

Eltia laughed as she replied, "You'll find that four thousand years can really change a culture and how they name their children."

Aang smiled a bit as he asked, "So, when you brought me here did it have to be so…"

"Violent? Quite frankly yes, because it is a violent process to dive through thousands of past lives. Like trying to connect a string by pulling one end through the middle of another string to the other end. Thankfully there is a place like the spirit oasis and the spirits still around in your time to provide a catalyst, or the meeting between us would have killed you," She replied in a very simple and matter of fact tone. Aang shuddered a little at the thought of that and was glad for the oasis too.

"But why did it hurt so much?" Aang asked simply, still utterly confused.

Eltia sighed as she replied, "Quite simply, with each life the Avatar has, when it dies, becomes part of the Avatar spirit. With each new life, it adds another layer on top. You probably noticed that conversing with Roku is easy, and you can probably call him without even going to the spirit world. But the farther down you go, the harder it gets. The pain was from you trying to force your way through the past lives to get to me. The violent reaction to the oasis was from me trying to establish a solid connection with you."

Aang finally began to understand how he was here and only had one last question, "So, why am I here?"

"So I can teach you how to spirit bend silly," Eltia replied with a small laugh.

Aang's jaw dropped a little as he asked, "How long am I going to be here?"

"Well, I can't really teach you every little thing about spirit bending, we probably only have a good five minutes left before our connection fades, but I can tell you what you can do with it and what you need to learn how to do," She replied simply as she pushed Aang down. Aang turned in surprise to find he was on a wooden chair that was floating in the middle of the white. When he looked back, Eltia was on a similar wooden chair.

"Okay, there are two major types of spirit bending, finite and simplistic. Finite bending is when you get close to the person and place your hands on them like you learned from the lion turtle. From that position you can do a multitude of things, like alter the mind, view memories, or even take away bending, among some other things."

"Can you give people bending?" Aang asked hopefully.

"I am sorry my young friend, but you cannot add something to the mind that is not already there. You must find another way to rebuild the air nomads, but do not lose hope, for there, even in the darkest of times and in the midst of troubles, is always hope," She added vaguely with a small smile trying to cheer Aang up.

"The other type of spirit bending is simplistic, which can be much more challenging in its own respects. You have to temporarily force your will over someone and subdue the individual's mind under your control for a short time. With that you can temporarily alter people's thinking and mind. It only lasts for a short time, and complicated commands won't work without you being near them, but simple one word commands like "calm" or "eat" are harmless. The effects aren't permanent unless you constantly focus your will on someone, which is quite taxing, but will last for a good hour or two. To do this requires much practice to be able to do it from a distance and to force your will on to another. Like here, watch this. _Jump."_

With that last thought, Aang felt a strong force wash over him and lost himself, all sense of time and where he was, but only for a split second. When he regained control over himself, he found himself almost fifty feet above Eltia, without any knowledge of how he got there. He was so amazed he almost forgot to slow his fall to not die, although he wasn't even sure he could in this world inside his head.

He landed silently in front of her and she muttered, "Wow, you can really jump."

"How in the world…?" Aang asked stunned, still trying to realize what had happened.

"I told you, spirit bending. It'll take some practice, but you'll understand eventually," Eltia replied with a small smile.

"That's it?" Aang asked quietly after a while as he got his blood pressure down.

"Well, that's not everything you can do with spirit bending, but it's the most useful and common forms of it. Where would the fun be if you didn't learn for yourself?" She muttered with a small smile.

"If that's your definition of fun," Aang replied as he smiled back and tried to grasp this bit of knowledge.

A small quite descended over the pair until Aang finally asked, "So…how did the Avatar and bending start?"

Eltia smiled softly as she whispered, "I wish I could tell you, but the spirits forbid it, and my energy is waning faster then I expected. I'm sorry to say that I can no longer maintain our connection."

"Wait, one last question! Why did you teach me spirit bending?" Aang called as the white began to fade to black in a similar cascading fashion to how the memory had.

For the first time since Aang had seen her, Eltia grew serious and responded ominously, "You will need it for the darkest of times ahead." With that, Eltia vanished in the blackness that was beginning to consume Aang's vision.

"Wait, what do you mean?!" Aang called urgently, but no one answered. "_**WAIT!**_" Aang called in fear once more as he bolted upright and gathered his surroundings. He was back in the oasis again; everything was colored as it normally would be. He turned and saw the coy fish swimming lazily in a circle, seemingly watching him.

"…Aang," muttered a small and familiar voice from behind him and a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Katara, and judging from how his body had been laying, he had been on her lap. He looked at her face and felt his heart shatter. Her eyes were blood shot, and it looked like she had been crying recently, with tear tracks and puffy eyes.

Aang gave her a small smile and Katara could restrain herself no more. She lunged at him and tackled him to the ground, crying softly on his chest with her arms wrapped so tightly around his neck Aang thought he may choke as she muttered, "Your okay, oh thank the spirits, your okay."

Aang smiled into her hair and wrapped his arms around her as he muttered, "It's okay Katara, everything is okay. Just calm down and tell me, what happened."

She muttered hysterically into his chest as the tear spilled from her eyes, "You got weak, then you stepped on the grass and floated and was stabbed by the light and it was _horrible!_ …I thought you had died again."

"Shhh, it's okay Katara, don't worry, I'm fine," Aang whispered back as he stroked her hair softly, reveling in the feel of it, trying to calm her down as she wept on top of him. She slowly after sometime began to quiet down. She sat up and didn't realize that sometime during her mental brake down, she had gone from laying on top of Aang to leaning against him while he sat up against a tree and wrapped his arms around her.

She looked up at him from his arms and leaned against his shoulder and asked quietly, "So…what happened in there?"

"I meet the first Avatar," He replied with a small smile as Katara's neck snapped up and she stared him in the eye.

"What do you mean? Why?" Katara asked quietly as she stared at him curiously. And so Aang explained with his arms around her what he had just seen and done in his head. She stared awestruck as he explained the spirit bending and the memory Eltia just took from his mind and showed for him. Aang decided to leave out the last little warning she gave him, thinking Katara didn't need to worry like he did.

"Wow, that's amazing…so when are you going to start learning?" Katara asked quietly while she leaned against his chest, still joyful that he was awake again.

"As soon as I figure out how," Aang laughed as he held her lightly as they stared at the moon.

"Avatar, you're awake!" The two heard called to them from across the water of the oasis, at the entrance. Standing at the entrance was Chief Arnook.

"How long was I out?" Aang asked quietly as he stood up with Katara,

"About an hour and a half," She whispered back quietly while Aang stared silently in disbelief. It had only felt like ten minutes in his head. The two walked over to the waiting chief, eager to share their news.

"Well, that is quite a tale my friend," Arnook replied with a smile as he lead them out.

"But please don't tell anyone. I don't want people to find out about spirit bending," Aang replied pleadingly as the stepped through the portal to the palace.

"My friend, your secret is safe with me. I will take it to my grave," Arnook replied with trust and conviction in his tone that bade Aang to believe him.

And so they walked back, and when they reached the main hall Arnook pointed off to his right and told them, "Your master rooms are to the right and up the stairs at the end of the hall. I believe Sokka is already there, and has been there since dinner."

"He didn't even come to check up on Aang? Oh, he is really going to get it now," Katara replied with rage as she stormed down the hall. Aang gave Chief Arnook a small smile and a shrug as he chased after Katara to stop her from killing her brother.

He caught up to her right when she got to his room, but instead of going through the door, she blew a hole in wall and stepped through. Aang smacked his forehead and stepped in behind her, inspecting the damage. The room looked like a blizzard had blown through it, with snow covering everything, and a very surprised Sokka sitting up in his bed. "What are you doing in bed?! Aang could have died tonight and you didn't even come to check up on him?!" Katara screamed as she stormed at her brother.

Sokka passively rolled over on his side, brushing the snow off of him, and faced the other wall. Katara's face grew red with rage as she started to gather water as she yelled, "How _dare_ you?! Your best friend could have _died_ tonight and all you can think of doing is moping about Suki?! Well, I'll give you something to mope about."

While Katara was gathering water to do something unspeakable to Sokka, Aang had been meditating and concentrating his energy, figuring if anytime was a good time to bend someone's spirit and prevent a possible death, now was it. Before Katara could carry out her malicious act on Sokka, Aang grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him. Her face was almost comical as it was mixed with half anger, half curiosity. Aang stared deep into her dazzling blue eyes and as he directed all of his thoughts to Katara, feeling his mind begin to reach out to her. It was an extremely difficult process, but he reached her mind and forcibly stated in low tones, "_Calm_."

Katara visibly relaxed and her faced became tranquil. She let the water drop down and smiled quietly, contentedly, and Aang removed himself from her mind. Katara blinked once, gaining control over herself, and looked around passively. She turned around to face a stunned Sokka who was sitting up and watching the scene in awe and muttered to him, "You should stop moping Sokka, it's not healthy. Just mellow out a little, life is so peaceful."

Sokka watched at his sister's behavior, stunned silent. Aang sighed in relief as he rounded on Sokka and repeated the process he did to Katara and said, "_Joy_." Sokka smiled up at Aang for the first time in days and jumped out of bed, full of energy.

"Isn't today a great day Aang? Why was I mopping so much about Suki, life is wonderful. I bet she's having a wonderful time, isn't she pretty? I can't wait to see her again, maybe tomorrow-," Sokka started as he began walking which then became running around Aang and Katara in a circle, full of joy and happiness while Katara stared strait ahead peacefully, absentmindedly.

Aang was happy his friend was feeling better, but this amount of pent up emotions and thought was not something he was prepared for. Just as Aang felt a headache building up from Sokka's rant, he called out in gravely low tones as he projected his will and desire onto those around him, "_SLEEP!_"

Sokka and Katara immediately limped and passed out. If Aang hadn't been in such close proximity to Katara, he may not have caught her before she hit the ground. Sokka wasn't so lucky, as his momentum from running forward sent him crashing down face first as he slid on the ground to the wall, dead asleep. Aang sat Katara down on the bed and lay next to her, panting out of breath. He was already in a cold sweat as he muttered, "Wow, that's exhausting."

Aang had not expected spirit bending to be so effective or potent. It was almost like they were different people, but knew they would be back to normal in a matter of hours, he wasn't strong enough to keep them in their state, he was barely strong enough to induce it, but knew they would stay asleep for the night. Spirit bending had drained him of all of his energy, but even so, me managed to lift Katara up and carry her bridal style all of the way to her room.

He laid her in her bed, still in her casual clothes, and tucked her in. He looked down after he was done and saw her curled up peacefully in her sheets on her side facing Aang, sleeping contentedly and breathing softly. Aang watched her with a small grin playing on his features, as he reveled in the fact that she was his, before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. Katara smiled softly and continued to sleep quietly while Aang turned around and stepped out.

He walked through the hole in the wall to find Sokka already snoring quite loudly even with his head inside the icy wall. Aang sighed as he bended him out and dragged him unceremoniously into his bed, and flung the covers on top of him. His snoring was almost as bad as his ranting.

Aang walked outside the hole in the wall, and then put it back together with the ice in the room, leaving it looking like nothing had happened. Aang felt so exhausted from spirit bending that he couldn't even slip under the covers, and just collapsed into bed and sweet unconsciousness.

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**Ah, lots of humor this chapter. I had a blast writing it, especially the end, that was great. if you have anything to say, there's a nice little button right down there. You see it? The one that says Submit a review? you should do it, it's a lovely little button that rewards you with cash, cookies, and prostitutes. I swear, it really does. Don't believe me? Well why don't you click it and find out tough guy?! Bring it on!!**


	11. Chapter 11: Sokka's Fight

**Alright, here is the next chapter. Are you psyched yet? Because I AM! i have been wanting this to happen for so long. If this had happened in the show, it would have made Avatar perfect. I had the vision for this chapter in my head for years, since episode 18 of season one to be exact. Because as soon as i saw the person you are about to see below, i wanted this to happen to him, but i'm not giving anything away, you can read it for yourself. And there is a lot to read, very long and juicy this chapter, so get ready and enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: That's it, i'm doing it you friggen Nazi, i'm getting the flamethrower. Oh, you're gonna get it now!**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 11: Sokka's Fight

Aang woke slowly in the morning to the light streaming through his window. "Aw, come on sun, just a little longer…wait, SUN?!" Aang shouted as he bolted up in his bed. He hadn't slept in since he was five, always up early to meditate or do something or other, but it was clearly around ten thirty in the afternoon, or somewhere close to that.

Aang stared out the window at the sun, before turning around to find Katara leaning on his doorway. Aang jumped a little in surprise, and asked curiously, "Hey Katara, how long have you been there?"

Katara smiled a little as she walked over to him slowly and muttered, "Not long, just watching you sleep and thinking. What did you do last night?"

"Uhh, what do you mean?" Aang asked nervously as he scratched the back of his head, inching slowly to the window, not sure where this conversation was going.

"It was weird. One second I wanted to beat Sokka into a concussion, and the next I was carefree, not a bit of anger. It all started after you looked me deep in my eyes, and then it got a little fuzzy. I think you said something, but I can't remember what. What did you do?" Katara asked curiously, not a hint of anger in her voice.

Aang was mentally prepping himself for the scolding he was about to receive, as he muttered sheepishly, "Well, I kind of…practiced my spirit bending to calm you down."

"You can do that? Interesting…" Katara muttered as she turned around to go down the hallway, leaving Aang slightly shocked. He was sure she would have been really mad at him for using spirit bending on her, but she didn't say anything.

Aang began to worry as he ran down the hall after Katara to the dining hall. "What if spirit bending had long lasting effects? What if I changed them forever? If I ever did anything to-," Aang thought as he burst through the dining halls doors, where there was still a little remnants of breakfast, and an argument to immediately silent Aang's thoughts.

"He's awake, alright Sokka, so drop it already!" Katara yelled as she sat in a huff next to her brother, same old Katara. Aang visibly sighed in relief as he leaned against the doorway, thankful that it had no permanent effects.

"What's the matter sleepy head? Get over here and eat so I can!" Sokka yelled as he held his stomach. Aang laughed as he walked over to where the three were sitting with the leftovers.

"You wouldn't let him eat Katara, that's harsh," Aang muttered jokingly as he sat down next to her.

"I wanted us to eat together and I refused to wake you up, you needed your sleep after yesterday. Makes perfect sense to me" Katara answered politely and logically, like answering a math question, and glanced over to Sokka, who was on his knees groveling.

"Can I _please_ eat now?" Sokka pleaded as he stared at the food in anticipation.

"Go for it. You didn't have to wait for me guys, but I'm kind of glad you did," Aang muttered as he tried to pick a fruit from under Sokka who was almost laying on the table trying to get as much food on his plate and in his mouth as possible. Katara shook her head in disgust and Aang chuckled quietly while he chomped down on a pear.

"Oh yea, Aang, good job with that spirit stuff yesterday," Sokka said quickly, with a mouth full of beef jerky.

"Katara put you up to that?" Aang asked with a slight smirk as Sokka inhaled his plate, choosing not to look at either of them or answer. Katara's eyebrow arched a little and her eyes tightened, but Aang just laughed and continued his meal.

"So Sokka, I see that you're talking again," Aang stated as he grabbed an apple from the table.

Sokka's face grew a little solemn and he stopped eating for a second and muttered while he looked down, "Yea, these last few days have been really hard on me. I haven't felt this bad since Yue died. But after I felt that bit of happiness yesterday, I felt the flow of joy; I knew that everything would be okay. It's like Suki said, we'll be fine as long as we believe we will. I know she wouldn't want me to mope around till I saw her again, so I'm trying my best to just put that from my mind for a little. Thanks for helping me and giving me some space over the last few days, I really needed it."

"No problem, any time," Aang replied with a small smile as Sokka began to stuff his face. Katara shook her head once more and buried her eyes in her palm, and Aang smirked in triumph. He knew his method of backing off was the right course.

"So Aang, how does this spirit bending work?" Katara asked while she slowly munched on an egg.

"Well, I have to impose my will over another's mind, and can tell them what to do. It has to be simple commands, and it only works for a split second, but in that time I can influence a person's thoughts and feelings and tell them what to do," Aang stated simply as he grabbed an orange, "I must admit, having someone's mind under your control can be a little terrifying, but it's a great substitute for violence."

"That's amazing Aang. Can you show me again?" Sokka asked eagerly, spraying remnants of his meal all over the table, including Aang and Katara.

"I guess I could," Aang muttered with a slightly malicious smirk. With that, he forced his will upon Sokka as he did last night and stated, "_Content_."

Sokka snapped out of his trance and looked down at his food, about to eat, before stopping suddenly. Sokka looked up at Aang like he just got punched in the gut and muttered, "Dude, not cool. I only had my second helping." Aang and Katara burst out laughing as breakfast was concluded.

The trio spent the rest of the morning getting ready. Sokka got packed and went to spar a little with his sword, trying not to get rusty. He walked into the gym located near the palace where the benders train, and found many warriors already there sparring, one in particular seemed very sour and unhappy. Sokka thought he recognized him, but couldn't place his finger on it.

The man just finished wiping the floor with some unlucky opponent, literally, as the poor guy stood up and wiped the ice off of his face with a glare. The triumphant champion bellowed, "Come on… is no one here willing to fight me?"

"I will," Sokka yelled as he walked towards the battle circle. As he got close, he began to recognize the man with his smooth hair parted at the center, with a knot top like Sokka's, and small, beady blue eyes.

"You!" the man roared in rage as he stormed right up to Sokka's face. "How dare you show your face to me?!"

"What's the matter Han, your last real mission didn't go that well without me?" Sokka smirked in memory of the hilarious mission report from the failed assassination attempt.

"Yes, I got disgraced from that mission, and lost my reputation that I've had to sweat and bleed to get back. But that isn't the real problem; the real problem is _your_ failed mission. You _failed_ to save her!" Han yelled, obviously referring to Yue.

"That was her choice, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop her, no one could. It was the only option," Sokka stated firmly but quietly, as the memory of Yue pulled at the strings of his heart in pain.

"Lies! If you had stopped Zhao, then she would be alive, and I would still be the chieftain's son-in-law and on the fast track to power, but since she died, I have been treated like everyone else, and it's all because of _you!_" Han roared as he grabbed Sokka by the shirt to and pulled his fist back to punch him.

Sokka was now sufficiently irked from that last statement and began to lose his cool. He knocked Han's hand off of his shirt, grabbed his fist mid-air, and flung him over his shoulder towards the wall, which he hit with a soft thud and slumped down to the ground.

"That's all she was to you, all she ever was, some political _tool_! She didn't love you, she didn't even _like_ you, but she had enough honor to sacrifice herself for her village and her people in more ways than one! She has more courage than anyone I had ever meet to sacrifice herself for her village, but you don't even care! You're scum, you never deserved her or this village, you're a disgrace!" Sokka roared as he took his stance in the circle. Han stood up, breathing heavy, but no other obvious problems. A raging fire burned in his eyes for revenge.

Enough words had been passed as Sokka drew his sword and stood, waiting for Han to come to the circle. Han grabbed his spear from the edge of the circle and yanked it out of the ice with a strong yank. He brought the spear to bear and pointed it straight at Sokka's throat from across the twenty-yard wide circle. Sokka stood his stance, while he and Han circled each other like wolves, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Han moved first, and charged forward with his spear. Sokka stayed calm and waited until right before he would have gotten hit, he stepped to the right and the spear barely missed him. Sokka spun into the step and turned on his left foot, cutting off the top of the spear with his sword, and simultaneously kicking Han in the side with his right foot, who slid along the ice to the edge of the circle.

Han swung his legs back and used the momentum to back flip onto his feet. He reached over to one of the spectators and grabbed his spear, wrenching it out of his hand and pointing it at Sokka. He charged again, but this time, instead of going straight for Sokka, he jabbed it in the ground and used it like a pole vault, launching himself forward and dropkicking Sokka square in the chest, who couldn't react in time.

Han wasn't done yet, as he landed into his kick in front of Sokka and pulled the spear out of the ice. He swung it over his head straight down at Sokka, who rolled to the left just in time as the spear hit the ground right where Sokka's head was a moment ago. Sokka spun on his back towards Han, kicking him in the back of the legs and causing Han to land flat on his back.

Sokka did a back flip away from Han to the edge of the circle, getting some distance from him and that spear. Han stood up once more while Sokka caught his breath, holding his chest a little with his left hand. Han chuckled a little at the sight as he brought his spear up to Sokka once more.

Han ran towards Sokka again, and right when he got within range, spun around to his right, using the added centrifugal force to slice for Sokka's mid section. But Sokka saw the attack coming and leaned back, ducking under the blow. Han kept spinning and redirected his spear, spinning it straight over his head and down to Sokka's head.

Sokka dropped his sword and fell back with the spear, catching it and flowing with Han's force, lifting him backwards over his head while on the ground. He flung him back and Han landed behind him on his back on the ice, hard. The ice cracked and shattered a little under the impact, sending shards up at some of the onlookers who had to look away.

Sokka stood up, picking his sword up off the ground, and walked over to Han's crumpled body. He was breathing very hard now, and blood trickled from his mouth. Sokka looked down at him over Han's shoulders with pity and shook his head. Sokka grabbed the spear and threw it back to its owner, but Han wasn't out yet. He leaned backwards and kicked Sokka in the jaw. Sokka slid back on the ice, feeling a little light headed.

Han stood up slowly, grabbing two maces from the crowd, and wheeled on Sokka, who was standing up and rubbing his jaw. Sokka smiled weakly as Han held both maces out defensively, and muttered, "Didn't think you could move after that one."

"You'd be surprised at the power of fury," Han growled and lunged at Sokka, who stood ready for his attack. Han swung both maces in the same direction at Sokka's right, but Sokka held his sword vertically and rested his hand on the side of the blade to support it from the attack, and even then, he slid back a little.

Sokka leaned his sword back towards him, and the maces slid up it over Sokka's head from Han's pressure, leaving him open. "No more mercy," Sokka muttered as he swung his sword for Han's right side, but he dived to left and went for Sokka's legs as he went down. Sokka hopped over the attack and landed on top of a mace with full force, wedging one of them in the ice.

Sokka didn't stop there and lunged forward, sword over his head ready to stab straight down, but Han rolled out of the way away from Sokka. Sokka's sword went deep into the ice, but Sokka didn't stop there, and did a front flip with his hand on the hilt of the sword and went to bring his leg down on Han's chest. Han caught his leg with his hands and threw Sokka across the ice by his leg, sword and all.

Sokka got up a little slowly, clutching his leg that was still trying to heal a little after he broke it. The healing sessions had made it better, but he feared the amount of strain he was putting on it right now may be too much, he would have to end this quick. Han threw down the other mace, and drew two hidden daggers from his vest. This unnerved Sokka a little, where Han had been good with most of the other weapons that weren't his, these were his, and he was probably very proficient with them.

Han laid back a little, and his form grew more lose and fluid. Sokka noticed that now he had small, light weapons, he moved much quicker, which could pose a problem. The two circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Sokka moved first, and drew the boomerang from his back and threw it at Han. This took Han by such surprise, he almost didn't dodge it, but he turned out of the way just in time, ducking to the right.

And Sokka was there waiting for him, as he brought his sword up to slash across his chest. Han swerved to the left of the swing, and brought a dagger to Sokka's side. Sokka caught his hand, but Han was already moving in with the other one for Sokka's chest. Sokka brought his sword up to Han's neck, and the two stopped.

It was a standoff, Sokka had a knife at his heart, and Han had a sword at his throat. The two stared at each other in fury, as Han tried to wedge his caught hand free, but Sokka held it steady. "You peasant, how could you ever hope to beat me," Han seethed while he continued to struggle to free his hand.

Sokka smirked and muttered, "I just did." Han jerked his head up as he remembered that handy little thing about boomerangs, and how they came back. At that second, Sokka's boomerang caught Han on the back of his head, blunt side. In that second of disorientation, Sokka knocked Han's hand holding the knife to his chest away while simultaneously hitting Han across the face with the blunt end of his sword.

But before Han could hit the ground, Sokka grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed it to the ground, hard. Han was out cold, but alive, although he would have a massive headache when he awoke. "Don't you dare say her name again," Sokka muttered as he sheathed his sword and boomerang. Figuring that was enough exercise for one day, he walked out to cheers and applause from the crowd, who was waving and cheering like he was a decorated war hero, but Sokka's mind was already on Katara, and how fast she could heal the big bruise on his chest from that kick Han gave him.

Aang and Katara had, while Sokka was doing that, been walking around the tribe, getting a view for everything. They saw the shops, rode on the boats around the city, and in general just spent time with each other, happy for the short break to themselves they got. At the moment, they were relaxing in the oasis lying on the grass and holding each other, resting and starring at the sky. Aang was having idle conversation with Katara, realizing just how much he missed this. It seems the meetings just kept taking more and more of his time with her away from him.

It was while their conversation drifted to interesting cloud shapes that Sokka hobbled over, his leg starting to get to him, and called, "Hey, lovebirds! Little help over here might be nice!"

Aang and Katara looked up at the same time, and Katara immediately ran over to give Sokka support on his bad leg. "What happened to you?" Katara asked while she set him by the oasis.

"Well I kind of fought Han," Sokka said while he looked down and fiddled with his thumbs. Katara scowled at him while she gathered some water from the oasis.

"That's Sokka, always looking for a fight," She grumbled while she began to heal his leg.

"Hey, he started it! Besides, that dirty bastard had it coming!" Sokka yelled while his fist clenched the grass in fury, trying to suppress his anger.

"This is about Yue, isn't it?" Aang asked quietly while he walked over to inspect the healing. Sokka chose not to answer, and instead turned away from Aang and looked off into the distance. Aang and Katara decided to drop the subject.

"Lucky for you we're at the north pole, or some of the injury to your chest would have you stuck in a bed for days," Katara muttered absent mindedly while she repaired his chest.

"Well, then he's going to take about two months to recover," Sokka stated triumphantly while he beamed with pride.

"Nice one!" Aang shouted in praise while giving Sokka a smirk and a thumbs-up, before cowering away from Katara's glare. She obviously didn't approve of the fight, no matter who won or lost.

"There, I'm done," She stated irritably as she got up and walked away back to the palace.

Sokka hopped up and shouted, "Wow, I feel great! I feel even better than I did before the fight started! Maybe I should go back and-."

Katara had come back while he was announcing this and whacked him on the back of the head and shouted, "No more fighting! What do you think I am, your personal healing service? You get in a fight like that again, I'm not healing you!"

With that she stormed off in a huff, muttering things about boys and idiots and unappreciated. Sokka stood up again and rubbed his head, sulking a little. "So Sokka, how was the fight?" Aang asked quietly while they walked back.

"It was awesome, you should have seen it," He whispered back while they walked.

"We better get ready to go," Katara called back to them, still angry, while she opened the door.

"I better go calm her down," Aang muttered as he chased after her.

"Yea, go use more of that spirit stuff, she could use it!" Sokka called, only to receive an icy glare from Katara, which told him to stop now before he lost something very valuable to him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko walked out of the latest meeting with Mai in his arm. This one was one of the few that didn't bug him, because this was important. This was a meeting of the patrols and spies trying to find Azula. Hakoda reported an anomaly in the tree line and how on further investigation, found a small fire nation blimp in it, probably Azula's. There was also a report from an anonymous tip that she was in a nearby town, staying with the doctor there, and how they were waiting on the report from that town. Zuko was genuinely pleased with that meeting, they were closing in on her, or so Zuko liked to hope.

Zuko walked absent-mindedly with Mai until he realized where they were. Mai looked up at Zuko, a worried expression on her face as she muttered, "Zuko, why are we here?"

They had ended up outside Ursa's room, exactly as Zuko had left it. He looked at the door sadly and muttered, "I don't know," before turning around to walk away.

"Zuko, talk to me, tell me what you're thinking," Mai pleaded as she held his arm tighter.

"I didn't think you'd care," Zuko muttered in mild sarcasm.

"About any of this other crap going on right now, but I do care about you, now talk to me," Mai demanded as she stopped in front of him and looked up at him.

Zuko sighed and muttered to her, "I know we're closing in on Azula, and that's great, but I just feel like we put a lot of effort into her, and yet my mother…"

Mai wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck and muttered, "Yea, but we have support of more than just the fire nation in finding Azula, your mother just has the lotus and your private staff, and I'm sure they're doing all they can right now. You just have to trust them. They'll get that information."

"I hope so," Zuko muttered as they walked along some more.

They ended up by the master bedroom, and decided to sit on the balcony and stare out at the nothingness. Mai leaned in on him and Zuko looked down at her and smiled, so very glad to have her right now and keep him leveled and focused. "So, how are you holding up?" Zuko asked while he kissed her head, holding her tightly.

Mai pulled Zuko closer as she muttered, "I'll be fine…I'm just glad we're closing in on Azula." Zuko felt her shudder in his arms a little and pulled her closer, while she fiddled with the locket on her neck.

Suddenly, a Kyoshi warrior with a very special headband dropped in behind them and muttered, "Excuse me Zuko, there's a message for you, I believe it's from Iroh."

"Iroh!" Zuko exclaimed and ran off to the message room to get to the message early.

"Thanks Suki," Mai muttered, thanking her for Zuko, as she stood up and brushed the dirt off herself.

"So, how are you," Suki asked while she stood up to leave.

Mai walked past her without a second glance and muttered, "You should ask yourself that. When was the last time you saw how sad your face looked?"

Suki shook her head as she watched Mai wipe her face and go back to her job.

By the time Mai found Zuko, he was in his room with the scroll, about to unravel it. She sat down next to him, but he barely even seemed to notice, already digging through the scroll. She leaned over his shoulder and began to read it with him.

_Dear Zuko,_

_How are you, I hope being Fire Lord isn't going too tough on you. I'll jump to my point and tell you what I know you've been dying to know for the last month. When your mom left, she went to take refuge in the Earth Kingdom, specifically Omashu. We showed her picture around there and some people said that they recognized her, and that she owned a child day care. When the fire nation invaded Omashu, everyone said they couldn't find her, and thought she was killed by a soldier or taken prisoner. My guess is that she fled the city, and went into even deeper hiding then before. I would assume once word reached her that the war had been ending by the Avatar, she would wait until she got more news about how things were going before she came back, but I'm not sure, that last part is my guess. We know she didn't die in Omashu, but the trail seemed to have died there. I have as much of the Lotus I can spare trying to find her, scouring the countryside. I will find her, that is my promise to you my nephew._

_Love, Iroh_

Zuko dropped the scroll and began to feel tears of joy well in his eyes. "She's alive…I can't believe she's actually alive," Zuko muttered as he wiped away the tears and forced them back.

Mai wrapped her arms around his shoulders and muttered, "See, I told you that Iroh had it under control. Now come on, we don't have a meeting today for once, let's just relax for a little."

Zuko and Mai lay on the bed in each other's arms, starring of into nothingness. Zuko looked down at her and muttered, "What are you thinking?"

"About how great that silence was," She replied jokingly as she looked up at him. They both smiled before she continued and muttered, "And how handsome you are when you're happy."

"Funny, I was just thinking about how pretty you are all the time," Zuko replied as he pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply. After a couple seconds, they pulled away and dozed off in each other's arms.

Mai shook Zuko awake later on that day, at around three in the afternoon. "What's going on?" Zuko asked groggily as he shook his head, trying to get a grasp of his surroundings.

"New information about Azula. Apparently she killed a couple people, and one little girl provided some odd information that was sent to us, apparently she met Azula in person, so come on. You need to get out of bed," Mai urged as she helped him up.

Zuko woke up immediately and muttered, "How long have you been awake?"

"For a couple hours, I only got an hour of sleep with you, and decided to go and take care of some more political business," Mai muttered as they walked down the corridor to the meeting room.

"Why didn't you wake me, I could have helped," Zuko replied as they continued walking.

"Because you've been working so hard lately, I figured you deserved a brake," She answered as they continued walking.

"What about you, you just lost your cousin and you've been pushing yourself really hard, you should take a break," Zuko retorted softly.

"I'm fine," Mai whispered weakly, but they both saw through that.

"That's bullshit and you know it Mai, so don't give me that! Now I want you to go take the rest of the day off, and I won't take no for an answer! I can handle this for a day by myself," Zuko demanded as they reached the curtain to the meeting room that was the former war room.

"But what would I do with myself?" Mai asked back feebly as she averted her gaze.

"Please Mai, for me," Zuko begged softly as he held her close to him one last time before turning around to go inside the meeting.

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**YEA, i've been wanting to do that for so long. Sokka kicked Han's ASS! that stupid little prick, as soon as i saw him on the show, i thought to myself, "i hate him, i want someone to beat the snot out of him." Not once in his time in the show has he given me any feelings towards him besides pitiless hatred. I'm sure that's how the writers wanted him to appear, the guy not worthy of Yue, who shouldn't have him, which is why there shouldn't be arranged marriages. All that was was the writers statement on Arranged Marriages and how much they blow, which you could sort of say is a blow towards other countries. But i've started to ramble off track. I hope you guys enjoyed this double whammy of an update as much as i did. Can't wait to hear from you guys. I know some of you might feel betrayed with promises of cookies, cash, and prostitutes if you reviewed the last one. Don't worry, you get them for this one, i swear! ;)**


	12. Chapter 12: Dark News

**Hey guys, i wasn't predicting an update so soon, but apparently, out of the list of about 12 places i had to visit today, every one of them was closed. EVERY FREAKING ONE! so now i got to go see them tomorrow in between classes tomorrow, which just sounds like such a bundle of joy. Ugh, so anyway, i had a lot of free time to kill, so i thought i'd get on with the next chapter. This chapter was something i knew i would have to address soon, but not one i was particularly fond of doing, so it may not be the best compared to some of my other stuff. Anyway, enjoy it please, i need a pick me up right now because tomorrow is gonna blow ass.**

***!*!*WARNING*!*!***

**I thought that would get your attention. If you read nothing else, please read this. Someone told me i should consider bumping the story down to T if i wanted more reviews. What do you guys think? You think i could pass this off as T, or is the violence really pushing the limit? Please contact me with your opinion, because i'm not sure what to do. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: HAHAHAHA! flame broiled Nazi moderators! AHAHAHAHA, let's see you force a disclaimer on me now!**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 12: Dark News

Aang, Katara, and Sokka, all went to the main hall for a quick lunch with Chief Arnook before they go back to Ba Sing Se. They sat down and ate quickly, chatting and being generally leisure and merry.

In the midst of Chief Arnook telling a particularly hilarious joke about Master Paku and a new student who was stubborn and ended up learning water bending the hard way, a messenger barged through the door and called, "Avatar Aang, urgent message from Omashu!"

"Bumi?" Aang asked as his head quirked to the side.

"Yes sir," The messenger replied as he handed Aang the scroll. Aang tore it open with curiosity and began to read. The table grew hushed as Aang read quietly and digested the information. Well, as hushed as you could get with Sokka shoveling his mouth, the effects of the spirit bending having worn off.

Sokka glanced up at the messenger who was still standing there, curiously eyeing the scroll. "What are you doing? Go on, shoo," Sokka muttered as he waved the man away rudely.

Katara whispered angrily at Sokka and muttered, "Was there any reason for that?"

"He doesn't need to know secret Avatar stuff. I didn't trust him, he could be a spy," Sokka growled indignantly as he took a very large bight from a moose-lion leg chop.

"That poor man was just doing his job and waiting for another instruction, is there really a reason to-!" Katara began to shout before Aang cut her off.

"Guys, important letter here, let's focus," He muttered and made a gesture to the paper in his hand.

"Right sorry…so what's it say Aang," Katara asked as she blushed a little from embarrassment.

"Bumi says he needs an urgent meeting with me, about something secret, he wouldn't write it down in the letter," Aang replied quickly as he finished it and rolled it up. He stood up just as quickly and began to walk faster then normal to the stables as he called, "We need to go, I'll get Appa ready."

"Is it just me, or did he seem in a rush?" Sokka asked quietly while he finished eating the last bits off the meal. Neither responded, but Katara's brow was weighed heavy with worry at Aang's odd reaction, something just didn't sit right in her gut…

In less then fifteen minutes Katara was outside helping Aang finish packing their provisions, waiting for Sokka. They finished and sat in the saddle waiting in silence. Aang stared off into the distance, his face dark and his usual smile that Katara had grown to love wasn't there, which worried her even more. She knew something was wrong when she scooted closer to him and he didn't respond to her leaning on him.

"Aang, what wrong?" Katara asked as she looked up at him from the crook of his neck, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Aang!" Katara shouted, and Aang snapped out of his little trance.

"Right here!" He called as he jumped a little, before noticing Katara was right next to him, and he wrapped his arm around her.

"Aang, what's going on, you seem really troubled?" Katara asked worriedly.

"Nothing, everything's fine," He replied with a smile that was so fake and forced it almost hurt to look at as much as his frown.

"You guys gonna help me down here!" Sokka called as he walked out to the stables.

Aang jumped up and shouted, "Sure Sokka!" very pleased to have a reason to leave Katara before she started asking more questions. He grabbed his bags and packed them while Sokka got situated.

Aang then jumped from the back of the saddle to Appa's head in one swift motion and yelled, "Yip yip!"

Soon they were soaring through the air, waving to the Northern Water Tribe as they flew south to Omashu. After a while, they all settled into their usual routines of do nothing and lounging, until Katara pulled Sokka over. She whispered into his ear and muttered, "Go talk to Aang about the letter, he's been acting weird."

Sokka glanced over the rim of the saddle at the back of Aang's head and muttered, "Seems fine to me."

Katara gave him a look of half contempt half annoyance and Sokka muttered in reply, "Why don't you go talk to him then?"

Katara continued her glare and Sokka threw his hands in the air and shouted, "Fine, I'll do it!"

He got up and walked to the front of the saddle, near where Aang stood and muttered, "So Aang, how's it going?"

"Everything's fine, going good," he muttered as lounged on Appa's head, half dozing.

"So, I was wondering, could I see that letter?" Sokka asked with mild interest.

Aang instantly jumped to attention and began to steer as he called back, "Not now Sokka, busy flying. We haven't been here for a while, don't quite know where to go."

Sokka raised his eyebrow an inch, but decided to not push the subject and walked back to Katara and his boomerang that needed polishing. "See, he's fine," Sokka muttered quietly as he began to rub his boomerang with the cloth.

Katara hit him in the shoulder in anger as Sokka yelped and called, "What was that for?!" Katara decided not to answer, and strutted back in a huff to her usual spot near the front of the saddle by Aang. She knew that Aang had a great sense of direction, and that he was doing absolutely nothing a second ago. She was still puzzled with his strange behavior; it was so unlike him.

As the sun began to set, Aang pulled down to a nice clearing near the river for the night. There had been no conversation for the rest of the day. Sokka had cleaned his weapons twice before deciding to doze off, and Katara was still reading her book she got in Ba Sing Se. Aang sat quietly on Appa, stopping his fake steering after half an hour, decided to scratch Momo's head and watch the clouds fly by.

As the trio pulled their stuff down to set up in silence, Aang wandered off into the forest to go find some fruit he said, but Katara could tell it was a lie. There was plenty of fruit on Appa that they brought with them, and she knew Aang was hiding something from her, and it wouldn't stop nagging her while she unpacked.

Sokka set up the tents while Katara got the fire and dinner ready. After an hour, the two had made their tents, and dinner was almost ready. Sokka had caught and cooked some fish for himself and Katara, and Katara made a vegetarian stew for everyone, but as the soup reached completion, she began to grow angry and shouted at Sokka, "Where's Aang?! I make him this great dinner and he's still not back. That's it, I'm going to find him, make sure this keeps simmering, and that's _it_."

With that final command, Katara went searching through the woods for Aang. She had no idea where he had gone, but she started searching. But as she walked in circles and circles, looking for him, she couldn't find a hint of him. After ten minutes, she began to worry and run through the woods. She ran and ran, until she reached a small clearing near a river, where there was still no sign of him. She began to despair and yelled out in desperation, "Aang!"

"Yea?" She heard from behind her. She turned around and found Aang sitting in a tree. His left leg was hanging lazily from the tree, the right was curled up near his head, with his arms wrapped around and head resting on it so she couldn't see his face.

"Where have you been, I've been worried," Katara asked as she approached the base of the tree, still unable to see his face.

"Thinking," Aang replied simply, hiding his face still, but Katara was still not eased. There was something off in his tone, something bad and unnerving.

"What about?" Katara responded as she grabbed the bottom branch and pulled herself up, starting to ascend the tree.

"Stuff," He whispered as if that could even be considered an answer. But Katara kept her calm as she grabbed the fourth branch, only a couple away from getting near Aang.

"Like what?" Katara asked, refusing to drop the subject as she pulled herself up to a branch next to Aang's, but he had turned away so all she could see was his hunched over back and legs dangling over the side.

Aang refused to answer or face Katara, but she still would not let it go. She leaned over and rested her arm on his shoulder and muttered, "Talk to me Aang, you've been acting weird ever since you read that letter. What's going on?"

Aang turned his body sideways along the branch and craned his head to Katara, and Katara gasped a little in shock. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, tear tracks running down his cheek, his face depressed and broken. He stared Katara right in the eye, as tears begin to well once more from his admission, "Bumi's dying."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko stepped into the meeting room to find everyone there again, waiting for him. He took a seat in the temporary throne at the head of the table, a simple, elegant chair. He was using it until the architects could elegantly remove the curtain of fire, which he felt was too over imposing to be an approachable throne for people he needed to talk and meet with. It also just held some bad memories. He took a seat and the others sat down on the floor, ready to discuss the new news they had received. To his left was an Earth Kingdom ambassador who was leading the spy task force, straight across from him was Hakoda, and to his right was the Master of Intelligence of the Fire Nation, Shi Lin. Shi Lin had served under his father, but Zuko found him to be very trustworthy. He was already opposing the war silently; all too aware of what was really going on behind the lies that the Fire Nation was "spreading their prosperity". He saw the reports, and dealt with the real atrocities of war, and was thoroughly thankful to Zuko and the Avatar for ending it.

"So," Zuko started, "What's this report I caught wind of?"

"Where's Mai?" Hakoda asked, knowing that she would never miss a meeting about Azula.

"I had her sit this one out, can we please continue," Zuko replied.

"It came from a small Earth Kingdom town Lu Shin, near where the war balloon was found. Apparently, Azula had to go see the doctor for something unknown, but the current assumption is she hurt herself when she landed the balloon. We don't know what happened, but the doctor was found dead in a secret apartment in his house." Shi Lin muttered.

"What about this person who meet Azula I heard about?" Zuko continued curiously.

"I was just getting to that. Apparently, after she killed the doctor, she came back to a peasant house, where she stayed until she could sneak off with supplies. But the death of the doctor was discovered, and she killed the family, then ran off with the supplies she needed."

"Who heard of this if the entire family was dead?" Zuko inquired.

"The daughter of the house, Seya, ten years old, was alive. She told all of this information to our spy willingly," Hakoda replied this time.

"Wait, did Azula just miss her, or couldn't find her?" Zuko asked, something seeming off.

"No, and this was the strange part of the report. Apparently, after Azula had killed the family, she was going to kill her, but stopped before she did, began yelling at nothing, and then destroyed the house, leaving Seya alone with the corpses of her family." Shi Lin read from the report

"That isn't like Azula, she wouldn't leave a trail. Any ideas?" Zuko continued.

"My theory is that she is trying to bait us into a trap," Shi Lin muttered grimly.

"I would agree, but what resources would she have to make this trap? Even still, the information is perplexing," Zuko whispered darkly while he rested his chin on the top of his interwoven hands and looked down.

"What if she's just losing it?" The Earth Kingdom ambassador asked to the group.

"She wasn't exactly of her right mind when she went into prison, so it's possible," Hakoda answered while he looked to the rest of the group for assurance, and everyone seemed to agree.

Zuko remained silent at the last remark, trying to mull everything over. He looked up and stared at everyone in the group individually while they watched him back before sighing and asking, "This Seya girl, she meet Azula, could she provide some insight into her behavior, it may help us plan our next move."

"Our informant tried, but he said she was very traumatized by the experience, and wouldn't willingly give up a lot of information, and what she did was a little vague," Shi Lin answered, scanning over the report once again.

"Did she give us any insight as to where she might be heading?" Zuko replied darkly, trying to take in all the information he could.

"No, and the trail died at the town, quite litterally. We have no idea where she's going," Hakoda muttered, upset by this unsettling bit of information.

"What do we do my lord?" Shi Lin asked.

"I recommend that we fan out from that town. She could have only gotten at most a three day head start on us, we can catch up to her," Zuko answered while he scanned the map in the center, trying to figure out which way she would have gone.

"Are you sure we should spread our forces out so thin?" Hakoda asked cautiously, realizing how small the spy task forces would be at that point, going down to one or two man squads, no match for Azula.

"We don't have a choice, we can't afford to have her slip through a crack," The Earth ambassador assured while also studying the map closely.

"I agree, but I say we focus our spare forces on the south, my bet would be she would want some distance between herself and Ba Sing Se until the heat dies down," Shi Lin said, while looking around at the others.

Everyone nodded in agreement, but one thing still troubled Zuko, "So, this Seya girl, where is she now?"

"I thought you may want to know that, so my spy told me she was already living in the alleys of the town when they got there. It seemed her grandparents were already dead, and she has no relatives. She is the only one in her family, and no one wants to take her in, for fear that she may bring the same tragedy again, so she is begging in the streets as we speak," Hakoda whispered remorsefully, staring at Lu Shin on the map, his heart going out to the poor girl.

"Unacceptable. I want her brought here immediately. No one who gave us so much valuable information and could potentially provide us with more is going to live on the streets while I am Fire Lord," Zuko commanded in a tone that drew no question. He was also thinking to himself that maybe, if he could get her alone, he may be able to get more information from her about his sister's behavior.

The meeting was about to disband when Hakoda gestured everyone to stay while he whispered, "One last thing I thought you may wish to see." He glanced down grimly at a small stack of papers next to him, as if they would grow a monsterous head and devour him alive.

"What is it?" Zuko asked, worried by his expressions.

"It's a summary of the damage she did in the town. I thought you may want to read some of the more important bits of information in there," Hakoda whispered darkly, something in the tone of his voice extremely unsettling as he passed out the copies of the papers.

"Why could you not just read it to us?" The ambassador asked while he took a copy from the stack and passed it on.

"Because I could only stand to read it once before I sent to have it copied," Hakoda answered while staring apprehensively at the map once more, something very apprehensive about Lu Shin, like it was dark and tainted.

The three read silently the report about Azula, and what she had done to the house of Seya's family, the family itself, and the doctor. The Earth Ambassador paled and started breathing heavily while he set the papers down, first to finish reading. Next was Shi Lin, who seemed very calm and composed, but could not stop his hands from shaking.

The three turned to see Zuko's reaction, and were a little troubled by what they saw. Zuko grasped the papers tightly as he drew the end of the page, and began shaking uncontrollably. He hunched over, trying to maintain his control as he felt his blood pump harder and teeth clench. It was a valiant effort, but useless as he unconsciously ignited the paper in his hands. He stood up and roared with rage, a billowing pillar of fire spraying from his mouth and simultaneously igniting the curtain of fire. The pillar rose so high, that it seared the ceiling beams a little.

He flung the paper's remains over his shoulders as he headed for the not flaming curtain, trying to calm himself, as steam trickled slowly still from his mouth and nostrils while he breathed deep. He stormed out, still in the midst of his rage as he yelled over his shoulder, "Find her!" The other three sat there in shock from his reaction, until Shi Lin gained control and excused himself, followed swiftly by the Earth ambassador.

Hakoda sat in the room, staring about idly, and yet not really seeing anything. Ever since he had meet the Fire Nation prince, he had been nothing short of kind and wise, making very thought out and educated decisions despite his age. He was so perfect Hakoda had begun to wonder if he really came from the same evil Fire Lords of past that wanted to destroy everything. And yet, he thought now that he had seen that side of him; that darker part that was locked up inside and it scared him a little. He didn't think the image of Zuko's shadow against the intensity of the flame would ever leave his memory. The curtain of fire slowly began to die down, oddly ironic of the fire Zuko kept locked inside himself.

Zuko walked slowly down the corridors, but not really going anywhere. After minutes of aimless wandering, he rested and his emotions finally caught up with him, as if he had been unconsciously running from them. He leaned and slumped down as his vision began to blur. He leaned against the wall, his legs curled into his chest, with his arms resting on top, while he stared at the ceiling, trying to get a grip, but failing miserably.

He looked down and stared at his hands in disgust. It never ended, the blood on his hands for letting her escape. He didn't think she could hurt anyone in her fragile state…how wrong he had been. That poor little girl, she was alone now and it was his fault. Zuko buried his eyes in his palms as his fingers went through the tips of his hair and pulled on it tightly.

"Zuko?" Came a quiet and monotone voice from next to him down the hall. He looked up and glanced to his left, and there was Mai, standing there holding a basket of fruit and a book. She watched for a second worriedly before walking over next to him. She sat down next to him with her legs curled to the side as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a soft embrace as she asked, "What's wrong, was it the meeting?"

Zuko pulled her close as he rested his head against hers and muttered softly, "How many more people have to die because of my mistake?"

Mai pulled him tighter and muttered forcefully into his ear, "This _isn't_ your fault Zuko, how many times must I say it. None of this is your fault."

"How is this not my fault? I had a chance to stop her permanently, and I didn't! Add that to the fact that my own nation is falling into poverty and homelessness and overpopulation, and I have no idea how to fix it!" Zuko yelled as he buried his head into her hair and felt tears sting his eyes.

Mai wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, while he whispered, "I wonder if I'm even cut out for this."

Mai instantly pulled away and stared Zuko straight in the eye and muttered in her usual monotone, but with a slight fluctuation of trying to pour on the emotion, "Don't you say that, don't ever say that. You did a better job then I could have ever imagined. If it wasn't for you, the Fire Nation would have already slipped into chaos."

Zuko smiled a little at her comment and stood up, gathering his composure again while wiping away the sole tear that fell. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped her left arm around his waist, and they walked back to his room. Mai leaned into his shoulder and muttered, "So, what happened in that meeting?"

Zuko explained to her while they walked down the halls about Seya, her family, and what Azula had done. Mai's face remained in her usual calm expression, but her hand shook at his waist. Weather it was from Azula's evil deed or sympathy for Seya, Zuko didn't know. When he finished up with his demand to bring Seya here and the reading of the bodies, She muttered quietly, "See, the Zuko I used to know would have never offered that little girl shelter, but you've changed, for the better."

Zuko smiled a little as he sat with Mai on the banister of the balcony of his room, watching the people of the capital busy about on their business. He looked at her blank face, watching the people, and pulled her close as he muttered, "What are you thinking?"

"About these people…our people," Mai replied softly, her mask letting up for a second revealing a small glimpse of a smile and happiness in her eyes.

Zuko smiled as he pulled her too his lips and whispered, "I love you."

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**Yea, i knew i would have to address Bumi eventually, but i'm still not looking forward to it. The guy has to be what, 110 at least? you don't get much older then that without a lot of help from modern medicine which they obviously lack. So, i figured why not do it now? don't worry, i'll make it worth your while with some lovely new information and plot twists ;). I know you guys are disappointed that none of your received your promised cash, cookies, and prostitutes, but the truth is that the mail plane they were on exploded and crashed into the ocean. i swear i didn't keep them all for myself. But if you review enough, i might just have a couple that survived for you :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Deaths

**Hey guys, sorry for taking so long to update, the last couple days have been pretty hard. My dog was put down on Monday. Then the next day would have been my grandfather's 88th birthday. He died on March 4, at 2:25 p.m. Add to that all stress of my books not arriving on time, the school web page crapping out on me, problems with my calculus class and getting that set up, it was just hell in a hand basket all around. But here's the next chapter, and it's pretty long, so enjoy it. I only have one more chapter to update, then it's back to actual writing again, so it'll be a bit longer in between updates. Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: Roasted Nazi anyone?...wait, did he just blink?**

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Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 13: Deaths

Katara stood in stunned silence while tears began to well and fall once more into Aang's eyes. She couldn't believe what was happening, Bumi couldn't die, he had always seemed so full of life and energy, how could he suddenly be dying? Aang's voice shook as he muttered quietly, "It's odd, I've been crying for over an hour and I just can't stop," pulled Katara out of her silent thoughts.

Katara moved to his branch and pulled him close while he continued to sob uncontrollably. Aang buried his face in her hair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she pulled him while she whispered, "It's okay Aang, it'll be okay, everything will be fine."

"But," Aang replied, quietly and desperately, as if searching in the dark for something just out of his reach, "He is the last thing that's still around from…"

Katara pulled him in tighter while she answered, not feeling the tears beginning to stream from her own eyes, "I know Aang, I know, but it'll be okay. I'm sorry you had to leave your old life behind, but you gained a new life in return it isn't bad. Besides, he's 113 years old, and…he wasn't frozen in a block of ice."

Aang shuddered and shook a little in her grasp as he replied, "I know that, but it's just… he was the one thing from my past that I knew, and he made me feel so happy that…the fire nation hadn't gotten everyone I cared about, that something from the past me was still here."

"Shhh, I know, I know, it's okay," Katara cooed as she held him tightly while he let out all of his pain and anguish, all of the burden he was bearing. She knew that this wasn't only about Bumi, this was about everything he had lost from before he got frozen, all coming to the surface now that the last thing from then was leaving him.

After ten minutes, Aang sat up and wiped the tears from his face. He smiled gently to Katara and muttered as he let go of her, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't trouble you with all my worries, it just-."

Katara cut him off as she wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him deeply, something they hadn't really done in quite some time, it had been almost twenty-four hours. She broke apart and smiled softly as she stated firmly right into his eyes, "That's what I love about you Aang, even when you feel the worst, you still are concerned more about everyone else. But sometimes it's okay to care about yourself and your problems."

Aang smiled slightly as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up bridal style so they could jump to the ground smoothly and quickly with airbending. They landed, and Aang let go of Katara, but when she noticed he wasn't walking away with her, she turned around to find him still standing there, smiling weakly at the ground. "What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"It's kind of funny, but my knees feel really weak suddenly, and I don't know why," He said softly while he looked up at her, eyes empty and hollow. She walked over to him and draped his left arm over her shoulder and wrapped her right arm around his waist, as they slowly walked through the forest back to camp.

As they came near the clearing, Aang stood up on his own and muttered thanks, walking into the clearing on his own weight. They found Sokka running back and forth around the camp, trying to do something. The first thing Katara noticed was her empty cooking pot, but at this point the last thing on her mind was food.

Sokka saw them and panicked, as he backed slowly away from Katara and stumbled over his words, "Yea, s-so you were gone for qu-quite some time and I f-figured that a little ta-aste couldn't hurt, and it was fa-fabulous, don't get me wrong, it was fanta-tastic! So I had some more and before I knew it-!"

Katara had officially heard enough and froze his mouth shut. Sokka stood stock still in terrified fear, but was shocked when Katara walked right past him without a word. She helped Aang along to Appa to rest. He watched quizzically as she pulled him into one last embrace and let him go lye on Appa's head with Momo curled on his chest, turning back to Sokka. Sokka went from being confused to terrified again, then back to confused when she unfroze his mouth without a word and went to her tent.

Sokka's curiosity got the better of his subconscious screaming warnings of the dangers he might face, as he poked his head into his sister's tent, who was sitting quietly on her bag, curled in a small ball with her knees in her chest, arms wrapped around her knees, and head in her lap. It was Sokka's turn to be the reassuring one as he crouched next to his sister and rubbed her back, asking extremely concerned, "Hey, what's going on?"

She looked up, eyes glazed over with welling tears she was fighting back, and muttered the two fatal words of the evening, "Bumi's dying." Sokka was blown back a little by this, literally, as he fell backwards and watched Katara with disbelieved shock.

"Wha-what? When… how?" Sokka asked, unable to form sentences or two word thoughts as this information took hold of him.

"It was in that letter Aang got. I don't know how he kept himself together all day," She muttered quietly as she buried her head back in her lap. Sokka got up, gave Katara a strong embrace, and left knowing there was nothing he could do, going to absorb this information in his tent.

The next morning, the three got up and packed without a word. Aang got everyone's stuff together on Appa with Sokka while Katara went out to get some breakfast. After fifteen minutes, the two were sitting in silence on a log when Katara came back with a basket full of fruit under her arm. Sokka was about to complain when Katara gave him a venomous look that said she hadn't forgotten what happened at dinner last night, so he kept his mouth shut and grabbed two pieces of fruit. Katara offered the basket to Aang with a small smile, but he stood up without so much as a twitch of his mouth back as he muttered quietly, "I'm not hungry."

Katara's smile quickly faded as she grabbed him by the wrist before he could get away and replied, "Come on Aang, you can't starve your self. Please, eat something…for me."

Aang dropped his head in defeat and grabbed a fruit, without turning to face her. She frowned as he walked over and flew on Appa's head; Momo curled up quietly on his lap. He took one bite then offered the rest to Momo, who seemed to know he needed to eat, maybe he could her his stomach, but for the first time any of them could remember, refused. Aang sighed in surrender and forced a couple more bites that obviously everyone wanted him to take even though he felt ill.

Katara watched sadly while she walked back to Appa's tail and walked up into his saddle with Sokka as they took off. The ride was deathly silent, no one saying a single word the entire trip, leaving each other to their own thoughts. Aang was worried about Bumi, Katara was worried about Aang, and Sokka was worried about both of their wellbeing…and when he would next have a chance to eat meat.

They arrived late that afternoon at Omashu. Aang immediately jumped down and flew off to the palace without a word. "Wait Aang!" Katara called as she went to follow him, but Sokka grabbed her wrist and held her back, shaking his head no. Katara conceited and watched him fly off to the palace at the summit of the mountain for a second, then led Appa to his stable near the top and their private house.

Aang landed at the front gate to the bowing guards, but he made no motion of noticing them and burst through the front door. He was meet by a receptionist who started, "Hello Avatar, King Bumi is-." She was cut off by Aang running past her, leaving a small trail of smoke, to the throne room; he knew the way. He burst through the front door to find Bumi sitting on his throne pondering god knows what.

"Aang, what a surprise!" He called as he stood up and walked over to him, seeming no worse for wear.

Aang took a step forward, a confused look twisted across his face, as he asked, "But…the letter; how did you not know I was coming?"

"It was just so shocking. Been to Kangaroo Island lately?" Bumi asked as walked over to Aang, perfectly normal.

"Drop the questions, you told me in the letter-," Aang started before Bumi cut him off by wrapping his arm around his head and pulling him down the hall in a seemingly friendly manner.

"I know, the meeting coming up, I could have sworn you knew about that," Bumi replied while Aang struggled in his arms to free his head and speak, but all that lead to was Aang flailing his limbs about and muted shouting into Bumi's sleeve, leaving very perplexed guards wondering what had just happened.

"You may want to stop that," Bumi muttered, and right when Aang got the tone of his voice and stopped, he felt himself traveling, still being held by Bumi through the ground to somewhere, he had no idea.

After ten minutes, Bumi let go and asked, "Aang, why are you just standing there?'

"Drop the act Bumi, what a…bout…" Aang began to argue before trailing off and realizing where they were. It was a giant room; about four times the size of the crystal catacomb. In it was a giant lake, so large a lion-turtle could fit in it easily, and all around them and in the lake was different sparkling gems of any and every kind imaginable. So many glowed so bright that they may as well have been in the middle of a desert of gems and color. A light danced over the water in lines back and forth, changing in a multitude of colors. The floor that they stood on was made of some crystallized clear liquid that encased the gems, totally flat like a polished floor of a palace.

"Bumi, where are we?" Aang asked quietly as he took in the amazing sight and staggered back trying to comprehend the sight that could accurately be described as a living rainbow.

"The Cave of Light, located deep under Omashu, at the bottom of that pit you always walk across to come to Omashu. Only the current Earth King of Omashu knows it's here, and I'd like to keep it that way if you wouldn't mind," Bumi answered with slight grin as he laughed a little.

"What are we doing here?" Aang asked quietly, still a little stunned by the sight.

"I'm teaching you obviously," Bumi replied with a chuckle as he walked around the cavern and began examining the rocks. Aang stood stone still and watched, finally gaining a grasp on himself.

"But what about the letter?" Aang asked urgently while he caught up to him.

"Oh, that was just to get you to come here," Bumi answered with a laugh.

"Wait…you mean you dying is a lie?!" Aang yelled furiously, thinking this joke to be in horribly bad taste.

"Oh no, that part was real, I meant the part about talking about the top secret meeting of the Earth Kings. You can tell everyone about that though, although I expect you already have, considering most people already know," Bumi answered thoughtfully while bending down closer on his hands and knees to look closely at one rock in particular at the base of the wall.

"So…what is it, how long…?" Aang asked.

"Looks like a Sapphire, bout two feet long I would guess," Bumi answered, albeit not the actual question.

"Can't you give me a straight answer?!" Aang shouted as he walked over to the king.

"Can words have a form or direction?" Bumi retorted while standing up and taking a stance, not taking his eyes off the gem.

"Answer the question!" Aang shouted and the entire cavern shook from his command, the ground cracking under his feet.

Bumi sighed and turn to face Aang for the first time since they left the palace. His face grew deep and somber, and it actually showed his age, which didn't happen often. He conceited and muttered, "I was hopping to not make a big deal about it, but if you insist, it is a disease that is eating away at my organs, dark as night. It has become harder to breathe, and my body grows stiffer by the day, and the cough is getting worse. The doctors say that at the rate it's going, I only have a few months to live, maybe even weeks, but they say I should be able to make it to the Kings meeting at the end of the month. Happy now? If so, let's get back to the real reason you're here."

Aang seemed to barely be maintaining his demeanor as he took in the words, and was even more surprised by the calmness of his voice. He managed to force out, "Wait…aren't you the least bit afraid."

Bumi sighed once more as he bended the sapphire out of the wall and muttered, "Aang, you realize at my age that death is inevitable, and you even start to look forward to it a little. Now come and sit, this is very important."

Aang sat uneasily on a surprisingly elaborate chair for something Bumi bended with only his foot, made out of many different gems in a very intricate and complicated pattern, "Bumi…how did you do this?" Aang asked quietly, as he looked at what could have been done by a master craftsman.

"That Aang, is why we are here today. I need to show you two things, first, how to separate earth and second, how to bend on a small scale. You already know how to bend large pieces of Earth, but sometimes, the small things can be even more helpful. Now look around Aang, what do you see?" Bumi asked.

"Gems?" Aang answered as though it were obvious.

"Yes, but what else, broader Aang," Bumi urged while spinning the sapphire around in the air.

"Earth?" Aang replied, very confused.

"Precisely, Earth. You see Aang, we like to label earth as one thing, one entity in earth bending, a very generic term when really, it is made up of a very wide variety of elements. And you can find these little pieces anywhere. There are small bits of earth in the water, metal, even people! That's why only Earth Kings are allowed in here, we don't want a lot of people to realize this. I am here to help you try to understand that finite control. You see, to bend a little earth, it requires a little movement, but it's a subtle art and requires masterful control. The tiniest twitch of your finger could cause catastrophic damage," Bumi explained while toying with the sapphire.

"I think I get it, but what's the sapphire for?" Aang asked curiously while he watched the sapphire dance enchantingly in the light in front of him.

"Well, this is how I'll teach you. If you look, or maybe rather feel closely in the sapphire, do you see it? The little pieces of dirt trapped inside like little bits of air in a pot. Now, what I want you to do is pull the dirt out, separate it from the sapphire, without changing the makeup, look, texture, or composition of the sapphire in the slightest, at all, during the entire process. Go!" Bumi stated with an elaborate arm gesture while he tossed the sapphire to Aang, who just barely caught it before it crushed him from the weight.

Aang stared at the sapphire for some time, but didn't see a single bit of dirt inside the sapphire. After a minute, he set the sapphire down on the ground and rested both of his hands on the sapphire, tapping his fingers to send vibrations through it to try and find the dirt. Two minutes of this, he finally found an incredibly small spec of dirt, like a single grain of the finest sand, embedded in the sapphire. Then, came the hard part of trying to pull it out.

Aang made a pulling motion with his fist, that normally worked, but the dirt didn't budge, as if it slipped right out of his control between his fingers. He would have to move even smaller, so he rested the tip of his index finger on the sapphire above the dirt. He twitched his finger to the right, and the dirt shot straight out of the sapphire and into the ground, where it embedded itself in the clear crystal of the floor.

"Oh my Aang, look at the size of that hole. Did I forget to mention how small and subtle each movement had to be, I could have sworn I did," Bumi muttered sarcastically while he took control of the dirt spec, that slowly came over and hovered just above his finger.

"What do you mean 'size' of the hole, it's so small you couldn't fit a needle in there!" Aang yelled, examining the hole that he only knew was there because he had put it there, but was other wise unnoticeable.

"That doesn't matter Aang, you have to learn complete control," Bumi replied harshly, unmovable like his element while he inserted the dirt back into the sapphire, and closed the sapphire again, looking just like it did before Aang took the dirt out, no worse for wear. With that same tone, Bumi demanded "Again."

"Bumi, why does this even matter?" Aang asked, a little frustrated while he took control of the dirt again.

"Water bending can't heal all injuries Aang, even the spirit oasis water. You could find a time where someone has a blockage inside him or her, someone dear to you, and you can't remove that with water. You would have to pull it out with earth bending, if it is a piece of earth, to save their life. You would have to follow their organ trail, go up and out of the system to save their life. What you just did, would have ripped right through someone and killed them instantly, now _do it again!"_ Bumi demanded in a tone that bode no argument, a side he didn't show often, so Aang went back to work without question.

He had never seen this side of Bumi. Bumi had always been his crazy friend who had an odd sense of humor and thinking, but this was a very serious side, a side he had never meet. He had wondered how someone like Bumi had managed to become king, and now he knew why. He could be very strict when he needed to be.

After hours of practice, he finally got the dirt out without the sapphire looking any different. Aang feel back into the chair in relief while he held the dirt on his finger. It was as large as two lines of his fingerprint, but who knew such a little piece of dirt could cause someone such frustration. Aang laughed a little at the thought, and then proceeded to toss the bit of dirt into the lake, hoping to never encounter it again.

"Very good Aang, you thought outside the box and achieved your goal, even after you tried to cheat and bend the sapphire," Bumi added as he snickered a little while Aang looked down in embarrassment.

"Yea, but I miss the box, I really like it, it saves me from the headache," Aang muttered while he and Bumi laughed.

"So I'm done, is that it?" Aang asked while he looked at the newly purified sapphire, which didn't look a bit different then it did five hours ago.

"Well, technically there are thirty-seven other specs of dirt in there," Bumi muttered, with the stone seriousness that Aang had meet today.

"You have got to be kidding me," Aang groaned while he slapped his forehead.

"Darn, I could have sword my acting was better then that," Bumi muttered in mock despair.

"You mean there isn't any more dirt in there?" Aang asked relived.

"No, there isn't thirty-seven bits of dirt in there," Bumi admitted, while Aang cheered and pumped a fist in the air, leaning back in his chair. "There's fifty-seven," Bumi continued, his crazy smile returning while Aang's jaw dropped, eye's widened in shock, and arm feel limp at his side.

"You're joking right?" Aang asked, forcing a small smile and laugh, but he did know that particular gleam in Bumi's eyes, it reminded him of those challenges Bumi made him do.

"Not a bit," Bumi replied gleefully. Aang groaned and knelt back down by the sapphire, but Bumi looked at him curiously and added, "What are you doing?"

"Uh…getting the dirt out like you told me, that is once I find the little buggers," Aang replied, looking up at Bumi curiously.

"What are you talking about, I didn't tell you to do that. Do you have any idea what time it is," Bumi asked in mock interest, knowing the answer before Aang said it.

"Bumi, we've been down here forever, a light filled chamber hundreds of feet below Omashu and the sun, of course I have no idea what time it is! Do y-?" Aang shouted before Bumi cut him off.

"10:37 at night," Bumi replied calmly while bending back down his chair that he made into the ground.

"How do you-," Aang started before being cut off again.

"I counted obviously, do you think there's a sun dial down here? Now come on, we have to go," Bumi replied as he gestured for Aang to come over. Aang came over and ducked near Bumi while they traveled back up in the rock. After another ten minutes of travel, they made it back to the top and into the palace. Where in the palace Aang didn't know because he couldn't see a thing.

"Bumi, where are we?" Aang asked, feeling around in the dark for something besides Bumi, but just coming into contact with walls.

"A broom closet," Bumi replied as he tore down one wall so he and Aang could exit into the torch lit hallways of the palace. Aang turned and saw the wall rise back to its spot, looking exactly like it did a few seconds ago, indistinguishable against the rest of the hallway. "You didn't expect the entrance to a secret room of priceless gems be ostentatiously labeled with a giant sign did you?"

"I guess not, but a broom closet just seems so…" Aang replied and drifted off, trying to find the right word.

"Simple, precisely my point. Now, I would imagine that you should go home before Katara gets mad at you for being later for dinner," Bumi told him, and Aang immediately jumped up and flew out the nearest window, knowing how mad Katara would be if he was later then he already was.

Bumi watched Aang leave and waited until he was out of earshot before leaning against the wall and submitting to the coughing fit he had been fighting for quite some time. He lay on the ground for three minutes coughing and wheezing before getting a long enough brake and power to call for a guard to bring him to his room. He had pushed himself a little too hard today.

Aang arrived home in three minutes, and sure enough, Katara wasn't in a bright mood. She was sulking in the kitchen next to the remains of a cold dinner. Judging from the amount of time it took him to leave the cavern, Aang assumed it was almost eleven, or close to it, so dinner had been two and a half hours ago, not good for him. What made it worse was the fact that she had made an air bender soup recipe she found at the western air temple one day that Aang loved, and she only made it on special occasions, such as the defeat of the fire lord, the freeing of Sokka's dad, Aang learning fire bending, them being a couple, or apparently when a close friend is dying. What was left of the fruit and vegetable filled broth was long cold.

Katara looked up at Aang flying through the window with sad eyes and, holding back her own suspicions, muttered, "How's Bumi?"

"He seemed fine and energetic as usual, and brushed off dying as no big deal. He seemed even more energetic to train me and, I never thought I'd say this, I think I found a tougher teacher then Toph. I'm starving, is there anything left in that?" Aang asked after his explanation, holding his aching stomach.

"Uh, yea, there's a little, but it's cold. I thought you would be eating palace food," Katara muttered, a little bitter towards the end, and her true feelings showed themselves for a split second.

"Did you forget I could bend fire, did you think a little cold isn't going to stand up to me? And I would prefer your cooking any day of the week over that palace food," Aang replied, obviously trying to brighten her mood.

"You're just saying that because I'm your girlfriend," Katara muttered jokingly while Aang began to heat the soup.

"I can't say it didn't influence my feelings," Aang muttered while flash boiling the soup. Seconds later it was boiling hot, and Katara had grabbed a bowl and bended some of the soup into it, laughing a little at Aang's reply.

Aang began to dig in while Katara watched, very happy that Aang's good humor had returned instead of his dark sulky self that dominated him for the past two days. She sat across from him as Aang engulfed the food like he was Sokka, and Katara watched silently.

Aang glanced up, practically done with his meal almost two minutes later, and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm just happy you're back to normal. You had me worried today. Sulking and pouting is not the Aang I'm used to," Katara replied as she grabbed his empty bowl to go clean it.

Aang waltzed behind Katara and wrapped his arms around her while resting his head on her shoulder. He leaned in and whispered softly into her ear, "I'm sorry for making you worry, I shouldn't have."

"It's quite alright Aang, I like it when you're open with me and tell me how you feel. It's when you don't that it rips me up inside," Katara replied while she placed the bowl in the sink and wrapped her arms around herself above Aang's, holding Aangs where they were. They both stared up at the stars through the window above the sink, gently swaying back and forth unconsciously for no apparent reason.

"Aang, as much as I love this, I feel like sitting down, because my knees are starting to lock up," Katara muttered as she freed herself from Aang's grasp after a couple minutes, ready to go to bed, but Aang had other ideas. He grabbed a blanket and picked Katara up bridal style, airbending them up to the roof. "Aang, what are we doing?" Katara asked when they landed on the roof.

"We haven't had a chance to go on a real date in a while, and I don't know when the next chance will be, so this will suffice for now. Besides, I don't want to rip you up inside," Aang muttered quietly, while he gestured for her to come over to him. They sat on the roof, Aang with his hand around her shoulder and blanket draped over them like a cape, Katara leaning on his shoulder. It killed him that he could be hurting her by keeping a secret, so he told her everything. The worries he had about Bumi, what Bumi was training him to do, his feeling of loneliness he felt that there was nothing from his time around, and even about the past, the secrets he kept from her over the course of this entire trip, from the secret to the final chakra to his fear of having to kill Ozai, everything he could think of. She did the same, telling him about her mother, how deep her feelings for him truly ran, when she started to really discover these feelings when he was in his coma, her fear that he might die during his fight with Ozai, selfishness for not telling him, everything. Under the falling stars, they soared and connected as one.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko waited patiently on the landing strip for Seya to arrive, Mai at his side. It was a short ride from here to the Earth Kingdom village by airship, about a day's flight. He was fidgeting nervously about meeting her. He was never good with meeting new people, especially people he felt guilty towards for causing them pain, and as much as everyone kept telling him it wasn't his fault that was a lot of pain he felt directed towards him at the moment. His uncle would say that he was stubborn to the end, but Zuko could argue back that he was only human and the Fire Lord, he was responsible for a lot these days.

His consul had told him about an important economic meeting tonight, but this was more important in his mind. He had to meet this child who Azula had sparred. He felt a need to take care of her, to help her, to get her healed, because that was his responsibility at the moment, and no one would tell him otherwise. And so he waited, leaning back and forth in anticipation of meeting this fascinating child.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the zeppelin came into view, slowly but surely. It flew into the setting sun, ready to set down at the private airport. Zuko continued to fidget nervously until Mai squeezed his arm a little tighter and muttered, "You need to calm down before your heart beats itself out."

"I know, but I can't help it. Half of me expects her to praise me for taking her out of the gutter she was living in, the other expects her to try to assassinate me, and I can't tell which would be worse right now," Zuko replied as the air ship began to set down on the strip, as workers grabbed some ropes to keep it tied down.

"It'll be fine, but not if I have to call a doctor because of your heart attack, so calm down and force a smile already," Mai replied as the hatch began to hiss open. Zuko did as told and forced a smile as two guards walked out and stood at attention at both sides of the door. Out behind them walked a small, frail girl, who shook inexplicably and seem to be afraid of everything.

She spotted Zuko and bowed instinctively, muttering, "Hello Fire Lord Zuko, thank you for inviting me."

Zuko waved it off and replied, "Please don't bow for me, it's my fault you're here."

Zuko caught Seya's eyes, despite Mai pouting at him for blaming himself once more. At first glance, one would have thought that her eyes were cold and blank, but they were quite the opposite. They were filled with such sadness that what could have been bright green eyes was like a bottomless void, where all happiness would drain into inescapable nothingness. Zuko felt a pang of sadness, knowing that a few days ago she was probably never like this, or maybe it was the depressing aura she had about her spreading around and permeating everything. Zuko thought she may have been even gloomier then Mai, if that was even possible.

Seya silently stood straight and walked over the carriage Zuko was gesturing towards. He had done away with the chair being carried by people and replaced it with a wheeled carriage drawn by rhinos. A little intimidating yes, but they got the job done. Seya climbed in and sat across from Zuko and Mai on the other side of the carriage, off to the palace. She would have her own private room, and stay there until she felt it necessary to leave. Some of the council thought Zuko was adopting her, but that would have felt way to awkward, she was only six years younger then him, and would just be an honored guest. But at the moment, his heart sang a different tune with her broken and depressed appearance, he felt for a second almost like embracing her as a father. But he shook that off and realized that was just the side of him that blamed himself for her troubles, which he still didn't feel like was entirely wrong, even with everyone else's insisting.

The silence was so incredibly uncomfortable Zuko would have preferred lying on a bed of nails. He had no idea what to say to her, what she could be going through, what she liked, who she even was. It was bitterly uncomfortable, and she seemed distant and lost in her thoughts, which one could assume weren't pleasant judging by her facial expressions and what she went through over the last few days.

Her eyes suddenly brightened when she seemed to catch sight of Mai's sleeve. "What is that?" She asked curiously, staring at the launcher around Mai's wrist.

Zuko was a little surprised she still wore it, but maybe it was just a comfort thing. "It is my needle launcher, it shoots needles out at whatever I target," Mai answered in a simple monotone, uncurious and unfazed by the question.

"Wow, can I see," Seya asked in awe, but Zuko really was getting a bad feeling about where this conversation could be heading.

"Sure, I guess," Mai answered, and shot a needle out of her sleeve that embedded itself into the wall in a blink of an eye.

Seya stared awestruck and asked, "Can you show me how to do that sometime?"

"If I have spare time, I guess," Mai answered uncaringly, but Seya brightened instantly, but Zuko still saw a fire in her eyes, a fire he didn't like. They arrived at the palace and stepped out of the carriage. Mai and Zuko led Seya to her room, and as they walked, Zuko pulled Mai close and began whispering into her ear.

"What are you thinking, teaching her?" Zuko whispered so just she could her.

Mai whispered back just as quietly, "She needs something to focus her energy on."

"You know what she would do with that knowledge, she would go attack Azula for revenge, and she wouldn't stand a chance."

"You don't know-,"

"Oh come on Mai, be serious here."

"Fine, I know, but I'm also going to try to teach her restraint and to be calm, not just how to throw a knife. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I hope."

"What are you talking about?" Seya asked nicely as they walked through the palace halls to her room.

"Nothing, just some top secret Fire Nation stuff," Zuko answered quickly, quite obviously lying.

"Are you really the Fire Lord?" Seya asked with awe as she stared up at Zuko, one and a half feet taller then her.

"Yes, why would you think I wasn't?" Zuko asked, a little irritated by that question.

"You just seem so young," She answered with a bright smile.

A darker side of Zuko that he kept inside wanted to scream, but he kept that inside for a reason, and remained calm, replying, "Age and wisdom do not necessarily have to correlate."

"But they usually do," Mai muttered, poking the hole in his argument. An old Zuko would have been mad, but the new Zuko laughed it off with the other two.

At that moment, two Kyoshi warriors, Suki and Ty Lee, dropped in from the roof and told Zuko, "Welcome back, the leaders are waiting for that economic meeting."

Zuko sighed and muttered, "I was hopping to spend a little more time with my new guest, but I guess I can't put this off anymore. But could both of you please stay with Mai and Seya for a little bit." Zuko gave them a look that said he wanted her to do more then watch them, and left.

So the four went to Seya's room, quite descending amongst the four of them once more. Seya glanced at the two warriors and asked, "So, who are you?"

"We are the Kyoshi Warriors, but at the moment, we are helping the fire lord by being his personal body guards and advisors," Suki answered in a manner that sounded very automatic and rehearsed.

"So, do you guys shoot needles too?" Seya asked with that false curiosity again.

"No, we use our opponents force against them and block their chi, preventing them from bending," Ty Lee answered, receiving a small scowl from Suki, who preferred to not tell random people their secrets.

"That's amazing, can you teach me to do that?" Seya asked in a similar manner to how she asked Mai, which Mai caught on to. Zuko was probably right, but between herself and the Kyoshi warriors, she still felt she could teach her control.

"Maybe," Suki muttered, still not sure what to do about this strange girl obsessed with fighting. She knew that she would probably make an excellent student, but she wondered if it was for the right reasons.

When they finally arrived at the room, Mai waved the girls to wait outside, even though she knew that they would listen in on the roof or some such thing, as they always did. "So, this is it?" Seya asked, looking around at the rich and lavish room.

"Yup, make yourself comfortable," Mai muttered, watching the girl walk around and inspect everything. Seya sat quietly on the bed, bouncing up and down a little testing it, while she unconsciously stared out the window.

"…I miss them, you know," Seya muttered quietly, watching two birds and a baby bird fly about the window, circling each other back and forth, almost tauntingly.

Mai walked over and sat next to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulder as she whispered, "Trust me, I know."

Silent tears fell down their faces in mourning of those lost and gone, a little of them quivering and dying inside.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula drove the cart into Shu Ten, after traveling for three days. She wore a straw hat and a simple robe similar to the robe she wore in Ba Sing Se, lounging peacefully on the cart, leaning on the comfortable pile of clothes behind her like a pillow. In all respects, Shu Ten was a pretty small town, only a little larger then the one she had come from. The market was pitiful, with only enough shops to count on her fingers, but it would due as a simple temporary base of operations. She seemed to have lost the trail of her pursuers, but she left the girl alive, and it wouldn't be long before they figured out her location, so she would have to be quick with this town.

She plucked some tall grass as she drove by an overgrown house, munching on it absent-mindedly while she trailed along. She had finally found an inn and gotten clean and in some better clothes. That combing stuff wasn't that hard, just took a little practice. So, with her haircut and vaguely resembling her old self, but a little skinnier, she wheeled the cart into town, without doing much work. It was a smart horse, knew how to take care of itself, so she went back to lounging as the cart walked down a deserted street.

Suddenly, off the roof came two of the Dai Lee from both sides of her, standing at the ready, waiting to attack. Azula, without lifting her hat up so they could see her face, muttered, "I really recommend not doing that."

"This town is under control of the Long Feng and the Dai Lee Empire, outsiders will be terminated," The man to her right replied forcibly, trying to usher all the strength he had into that statement.

Azula chuckled quietly as she said sarcastically, "Empire, you control one dump of a backwater town and you think you're fire nation, how laughable!"

The man on the left shivered a little, the laughing rocking his very core in a slightly familiar fashion, but it couldn't be her, could it? The man on the right was not quite so calm and collected, the statement getting to him before his brain did, as he shouted, "Why you!"

"Stop, Shin!" The man on the left called, but too late. He launched his rock fist at her face, but she leaned back out of the way with the most minimal effort possible, causing the fist to sail harmlessly.

"Wrong move," Azula replied icily. Using just her arms, she launched herself up, flipping in the air so she was doing a front flip in the direction of Shu. Before he could react, Azula brought her foot down hard on his skull, shattering his hat and causing him to go unconscious.

But Azula wasn't done, for before the body could crumple in a heap on the ground, she spun around mid air and did a backward kick, sending Shin flying towards the wall. Unfortunately for Shin, the Dai Lee in their paranoia of attack, erected spikes around every structure for defense, but in this case, turned into quite a draw back as he impaled himself on two of the spikes, going threw his heart and stomach. Death was instantaneous.

"Such a weakling I didn't even need fire bending," Azula muttered while she landed gracefully in a prone position, her right leg bent and her left leg, the one that delivered the killer blow, sticking out to the left. The other Dai Lee agent was stunned silent from the entire ordeal, which took a grand total of five seconds. She was much stronger then he remembered, more swift and tough, which was an ill omen. Azula stood, wiping some dirt off of her dress and demanded, "Take me to Long Feng, I must discuss the state of things with him and my plans."

Silent, the Dai Lee agent stared back, still trying to comprehend what had happened. Azula watched the man like a hawk would a mouse and whispered icily, "Did I stutter?"

The Dai Lee immediately recognized that cold tone and sputtered hastily, "Uh no, no my lady, let me take you to him."

"Thank you," Azula replied, hopping back on her cart and following the agent into the center of town and the town hall, leaving Shin dead on the road for the crows until some other agents would come for him.

* * *

**Ahh, lot's of fun information in this chapter. It was really hard to write Bumi, try to capture his personality, but i did my best, hope you liked it. Also had a lot of laughs writing Bumi, came up with a lot of funny material for him. he is just such a hilarious character. Anyway, due to a very close vote, the margin only being two votes, i've decided to drop the rating to T. hopefully i'll get a couple more reviews this way, and hopefully i won't piss off a lot of people. Anyway, read and review.**


	14. Chapter 14: The Successor

**Hey guys, i know this is a little later then i thought it would be. I had planned on updating this weekend, but i was really busy. I have a lot of reading for college, and then there's the homework. Not to mention, between that, i also hanged out with my friends until three in the morning, which in hind sight might not have been such a great idea when i also needed to do laundry. So while i waited for the washing machine to finish to put the clothes in the dryer, i finished writing this chapter. I thought it was already done, but as it turns out, it wasn't even a third of the way done. The final version ended up being 14 pages on word, so there is definitely a lot for you to read here. Enjoy ;)**

**Disclaimer: Hey, you can't move, i torched you. I TORCHED YOU!**

* * *

Book 4: Air - Reconstruction

Chapter 14: The Successor

Aang woke early to the cool morning dew to practice once again with Bumi. He strolled quietly down to the kitchen past Katara and Sokka's rooms. He sat down with Momo at the table and grabbed some fruit for himself and his pet. They sat in silence, while Aang analyzed what had been happening over the past few days.

He knew that the monks were right, that people lived on. He had seen spirits first hand, he knew that they were there, but it still felt hard to let go. Maybe that is why the monks taught him to let go of earthly attatchments, because they can hurt too much, but Aang couldn't do it. He wasn't like the other monks; he cared too much about everything. That might be a flaw, but that was a side of him he refused to let go of, for fear of what he may become with the power he wielded and not caring about who he used it on. Maybe it was like Yang Chen said, this was just part of being the Avatar, and that his life would be all about the worldly attachments he was taught to give up.

He snapped out of his silent pondering when he heard the quiet shuffle of feet from behind him, soft and quiet of the angel he knew so well. As he expected, Katara walked up behind him and leaned into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck, her hair falling about them like a brown frame. She nuzzled his neck as she whispered in his ear, "Good morning, I'm surprised you're up so early after we stayed up so late chatting."

Aang smirked a little and replied, "Come on Katara, you know me, I never sleep in. I think the one time I did was the Day of Black Sun, but that was some pretty outstanding and unusual circumstances."

"Yes, yes it was," She muttered as she stood up to go and grab herself something to eat from the pantry. Aang looked at her and his jaw dropped. She was wearing a sky blue nightgown that hung about her very loosely about her figure. It was also a little short, going just above her knees, and if Aang didn't know better, he could have sworn it was a bathrobe. It was just barely hanging on her shoulders, and when she turned around, it revealed more cleavage then she probably realized, although not to an indecent extreme.

Aang struggled to not stare while he watched his thumbs fight with each other, trying to maintain his self-control, but even to his best efforts, he couldn't stop the heat from reaching his cheeks. "Are you okay Aang?" Katara asked while she stared at his curious behavior.

"Uh, well…Your um…your robe is, uh…" Aang struggled, still trying to look at anything but Katara's chest, finding the task increasingly difficult.

"What are you- Ah!" Katara yelled as she realized just how revealing her robe was. She quickly tightened it around her figure, and yet Aang wasn't sure if this helped the problem much. Katara flustered as she stood and fumbled with the fruit she had, slowly circling around Aang and backing towards the stairs. Aang had decided it would be best to resume starring at the ground for the time being.

"I'm, uh, just going to-." Katara whispered before Aang cut her short.

"Yea," He replied just as quietly, although much quicker and more hurried.

"So I guess I'll see you-,"

"Yea, yea."

With that, Katara hurried up the stairs back to her room, still flustered and embarrassed. It took Aang several minutes before he gained control over himself enough to realize the world around him. Knowing he was going to be late if he delayed any longer, he quickly took off leaving a perplexed Momo as his quiet master randomly flew out the door, but that didn't stop him from quickly realizing the fruit he left behind.

Aang quickly made it back to Bumi's chamber as he did yesterday, to find the old King sitting lazily on his throne, starring lazily out the window, lazily oblivious to the paper work and advisors yelling around him. As soon as he heard Aang, he looked over and called to him, "Aang, good, come here, I need your opinion on something."

Aang complied, even with Bumi's advisors giving him a very unpleasant glare, and looked out the window Bumi was pointing to. "What?" Aang asked, perplexed by the seemingly empty window he was starring out, but with Bumi, he figured out that nothing is ever as it appears.

"What do you think gives clouds their shapes?" He asked, still starring inquisitively out the window.

"Uhh…does it matter?" Aang asked, obviously exasperated by the silliness as was Bumi's advisors, who let out a simultaneous drawn out groan.

"Probably not, but it still vexes me so. Do they choose a shape that pleases them, is it a game the spirits play, like canvas for them, is it a random occurrence of the wind, who take pleasure in dancing with the clouds, or-," Bumi started before Aang interrupted, with no clear end to this rant in sight.

"Bumi, focus, things to do, nation to run. Don't you have to teach me?" Aang asked, still perplexed from Bumi's never ending bag of craziness.

"Right right, let's go," Bumi replied while he stood and began to walk away with Aang.

"My Lord, what about the work that needs to be done here?" One of his advisors called after him.

"Hey, I'm dying, have to budget my time doing important things with the Avatar, I'm sure you can handle it," He called and hurried quickly with Aang out the door and down the hall to the entrance to the Sanctum.

When they arrived, Aang went back to work on his training while Bumi took a nap by on a rock bench, occasionally waving his hands to fix the sapphire when Aang screwed up. "Important things, huh?" Aang scoffed while he worked, but Bumi didn't answer and continued to hum a little tune.

Aang's work proceeded much quicker and with more ease today. The first piece of dirt took half as long as it did yesterday, and the next one half the one before it, and so on until he was taking out bits of dirt left and right. Aang did slowly gain that control after a lot of practice, and it wasn't as hard as Bumi made it out to be. It wasn't long before the sapphire was completely purified of all dirt, and Aang sat triumphantly in the dirt, with his crystal clear sapphire that didn't look any different, but felt different.

Bumi glanced up at him and remarked, "Wow, done are you, and it only took a couple hours. Next one won't be quite so easy." The King lifted his hand up and drew out a bright green emerald this time and tossed it to Aang, who caught it with ease. This gem was roughly the same size as the sapphire, but unlike the sapphire, had all the dirt concentrated in the center in a small ball about an inch in diameter. "Get it out," Bumi muttered simply, resuming his rest on his bench.

Aang sat on the ground with the gem in his lap, knowing already that anything Bumi told him was never as easy as it sounded, took control of the lump and was about to move but immediately stopped, feeling what would happen before it happened. If he pulled it out indiscriminately, the emerald would split and shatter. As long as it would take, it was much safer to remove it piece by piece.

He was just starting to move one piece, not even a centimeter before Bumi yelled, "No! Remove it all, all at once!"

The force behind his tone was unusual, but figured it had a purpose, and so Aang sat and pondered. He could take it out at once or it would split, and he can't take it out individually because…Bumi says so. Aang sat and pondered how he would do this for quite some time, weary of doing anything too drastic.

"Want a hint?" Bumi muttered while lying by the pool know, dipping his feet in while staring at the ceiling.

"If you want me to finish this today, that'd be nice," Aang responded bitterly, still a little miffed at this little problem.

"Combine your ideas," Bumi whispered cryptically.

"What's that supposed to mean? I tried moving them separately and as one and neither worked!" Aang yelled, the paradox not helping his growing headache. But even with his yelling, Bumi remained silent, resting quietly on the ground. Now Aang had two equally perplexing problems to muddle through that were somehow supposed to be related to each other. Aang grumbled quietly, flopping back and forth between the ideas, hopping something would come to him, and nothing was.

"What do you mean combine my ideas, this makes no sense!" Aang shouted, his anger beginning to get the best of him.

"Come on Aang, relax and think outside the box for a second," Bumi replied passively without so much as twitching.

"I like the box, it's safe in there…" Aang muttered while he continued to ponder. While flipping between moving it individually and moving it as one, Aang finally discovered the answer, but it would prove more difficult to carry out then he imagined.

With his idea in tact, Aang lifted the gem in one hand with Earthbending and rested his other on top of it, feeling the dirt, every bit and spec of it, all at once, as one, but separate. With this, he slowly moved the ball of dirt, but this time was different then the first attempt he considered. In the first one, he would have indiscriminately pulled the clump out as one, but when he took it slowly and broke it down to individual pieces, the dirt passed right through the emerald without harming it's consistency at all.

But right when Aang was at the end of his work, pulling out the first bits of dirt, his energy gave way and the gem collapsed on the grown, a fourth of the sphere missing, having fallen off outside the emerald in a small pile on the ground. The emerald fell with a loud thud, and Aang felt his vision starting to go, as he began to stagger and stumble from his sudden onset of fatigue. He felt the air rush past his ears before he felt a strong hand grab him by his collar and hold him up.

"Not bad Aang, not bad, but you look pretty exhausted. Here, take a short rest, I'll go grab you some lunch," Bumi ordered while he lifted Aang up over his shoulder and rested him down on his stone bench. Aang felt the world begin to spin around him as he blacked out on the stone bench, visions of dazzling colors filling his dreams.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile, it was a little past noon, and Katara had dressed decently and gone out on the market, still a little surprised at her carelessness this morning, and very much embarrassed. She, as much as she tried to fight them, had bad thoughts throughout the day of Aang breaking up with her, her not being worthy of him, or him thinking of her as some shameless floozy. When she sat down at a restaurant for lunch, the first thing she did was bang her head against the table repeatedly for being so foolish.

She couldn't think of anyone worse off then herself at that moment while giving herself a massive headache as the waitress walked over and tapped her on her shoulder whispering, "Uh, madam, you should probably stop that, or the customers next to you may want you to leave."

Katara looked up, very miserable, at the young lady while still feeling very silly and stupid. The girl looked to be in her late teens, maybe early twenties. She wore a simple green tunic and pants with a white apron, as was the uniform of the restaurant and looked very pretty, one of the girls Katara would look at swooning over Aang and feel very angry, jealous, and worried about, but right now wasn't the moment for any of those feelings. She had black hair that went barely past her shoulders and the lovely hourglass figures that made men's mouths' drop. Even now while the lady leaned over her by the table Katara saw men starring out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry, I'm just having a really bad day," Katara muttered while she buried her head in her arms. "Give me something really good and warm."

"Coming right up," the lady said while eyeing Katara quizzically. She shuffled off leaving Katara to her borderline-morbid thoughts. When she came back, Katara still had her head on the table, and didn't even seem to notice the waitress set the bowl of soup and tea pot in front of her.

"You wanna talk about it?" The waitress asked nicely.

"It's just I feel like I screwed everything up so bad. I know he likes me but now I've alienated him and he'll never want to see me and my life will be ruined and-," Katara began to rant on faster and louder until the waitress held up her hand and stopped her, commanding, "Whoa there, wait a minute young lady. Let's start at the beginning, what's going on?"

"Well there's this guy and…he's just so amazing I can't even describe it. He's the sweetest, most caring and affectionate guy I meet. But this morning, I did something so embarrassing that I feel I may have pushed him away," Katara muttered while she stared at the noodles stirring around in the soup, and began to eat a few of them.

"What did you do?" The young lady asked politely, but the look on Katara's face told her that she wasn't telling so decided to change her question to, "So what's this guy like?"

"He is the most amazing person ever. He cares for everyone before himself, and is so humble about it, never thinking big of his accomplishments. He'll help strangers without asking, and try to make everyone happy. He would do anything to keep me happy. He would take on the entire fire nation for me if I needed him to," Katara said enchanted, and while she spoke, her eyes glazed over as she starred off into nothingness, thinking of Aang and how great he was, her words drifting away into her thoughts with her.

"Sounds pretty great, you like him right?" the waitress asked, but received no response or indication that Katara had heard her, who was still staring off into the distance. "Right?" she asked a little louder this time, which seemed to snap Katara out of her thoughts and back into reality.

"I can't even tell you how much I love him. Every time I see him and how much he loves me, I feel my stomach turn itself inside out and my heart swell with such immense caring. I don't know what I would ever do if I lost him," Katara replied, answering as honestly as she could while not going on forever.

"Then trust me dear, you'll be fine. If how you describe it is true, you have nothing to worry about except when the wedding is," the waitress answered with a sweet smile.

"I wouldn't go that far ahead, I mean, anything could happen between now and-," Katara started before the waitress interrupted.

"Trust me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, just never let him go, I know I didn't," She told her while holding up her right hand and, more importantly, her ring finger. "Well, I need to head back to work; I sure hope you feel better."

"I do a little, thanks," Katara replied while she dug into her food, just realizing how hungry she was, not having really eaten anything this morning after her embarrassing predicament. The food was the most amazing thing she could have possibly had at that moment, because it was some of the most amazing cooking she had. That or those comforting words made her feel better.

When Katara was done, she pulled out her coin purse and grabbed the seven silver coins to cover the meal, and was getting up to leave when she paused for a second, thinking about that young girl working as a waitress, then pulled out two gold coins and placed them on the table. Satisfied with her tip, she walked out of the restaurant, bending a small amount of water out of a basin by the entrance to the tip of two of her fingers. The water glowed softly as she pressed it to her forehead where it was beaten against the table, massaging the spot softly.

The waitress walked over to the table after she left, but was astonished by the gold coins on the table. She picked them up and ran for the door after Katara, bursting through the door and spotting her ten feet to her left. "Hey, you forgot your change!" She called after her.

Katara turn towards her and bended the water back into the basin, her head feeling much better. She called back to the waitress, "Keep it, that's your tip!" She turned and continued to walk back towards the market to pick up some more supplies.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang woke up two hours later on the bench to what felt like someone had grabbed his head and smashed repeatedly against one of the gems until he bleed out his eyes and horses trampled on his face. He didn't feel this bad since he woke up after the incident at Ba Sing Se on the Fire navy ship. Waking up from a black out was by far one of the worst experience of his life. He tried to sit up but failed and rubbed his forehead trying to get the raging storm in his head to subside.

"Ah, you're awake are you?" Aang heard from somewhere near him, but he couldn't place were. Aang tried to shake the grogginess off but was still wasn't faring too well as the familiar voice continued, "Don't try to exert yourself, you'll feel fine in a little, just relax and breathe, relax and breathe Aang."

Aang listened to the voice, not thinking to do anything else, and let peace flow over him as the effects of the blackout began to slowly fade. It felt similar to his meditations, except he felt so out of control and helpless to the effects rather then forced. After a short time his vision began to clear and head pains subside as he sat up and looked around. He was still on his bench in the cave, and across from him sat Bumi in the same chair from yesterday, and in between them on the ground was a very cold pot of soup and tea to go with it? Bumi laughed while Aang looked at the food and exclaimed, "You know, at first I wanted to wait for you to wake up, but you were taking forever. I was going to change my mind, but by the time I did, it went cold! Would you mind fixing that for me?"

Aang shook his head to clear it of the remnants of the fog and flash heated the lunch. He blinked a couple times to focus his vision while Bumi poured the soup and the tea for them. Aang took a second to study Bumi. On the surface he looked exactly the same, but the way he talked said otherwise. He seemed so demanding and urgent, so unlike the Bumi he knew. This thought continued to nag at Aang while they ate the soup and drank tea in silence. Eventually Aang couldn't stand anymore and asked, "Bumi, what happened?"

"Life," Bumi replied vaguely.

"…What?" Aang stated dumbfounded after a while.

"Just think about it," Bumi answered equally vague.

"No, what I mean is what happened to you. You have those moments where you're so stern and stubborn, and I don't remember those, what's going on with you?" Aang insisted, hoping Bumi could actually focus for a second on the question at hand.

Bumi sighed and stared at the lake wistfully for a moment, letting his eyes glaze over as he answered in one of his serious moments, "Aang, I've come to realize how short my time has grown, and how much I still have left to do, so much left to learn and teach. I've still got so many things to do before the meeting with the other King, and the list doesn't seem to get smaller. So yes, I may have a short leash when teaching you, but I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Bumi finished with a soft smile, so out of character for him it almost made Aang do a double take. Aang realized that his friend had changed over the years; somewhere under the weird exterior was the leader of a city and a nation.

But Bumi then regressed back to his usual fun loving self, full of odd comments with double meaning. Bumi laughed hysterically and inquired, "So Aang, tell me about this Toph girl who taught you Earth Bending!"

Weary of where this conversation was heading, Aang asked slowly, "…why?"

"Because she reminds me of a younger me sort of," Bumi answered with a wide grin, and Aang managed to turn his head at the last moment so he didn't spit all of his soup out on Bumi.

"Are you kidding me?! You…and Toph…I can't think of anything more opposite!" Aang shouted while trying to organize his thoughts into something more coherent.

"How so?" Bumi stated quizzically, with that particular gleam in his eye that said he knew more then he let on.

"Well you're so fun and carefree and quirky, and Toph is…Toph!" Aang replied, still working on the coherent thought issue.

"Sure, we may have different ways of viewing the world, but we also share many things in common. The younger me was so similar to her it was scary. we both lived in the upper class, are master earth benders, hate politics, value friends, keep things to ourselves, had incredible egos, had rebellious fazes, so on and so forth. All I know is that I need to talk to her very soon!" Bumi demanded but in his light and carefree mood that left Aang unsure of what to do, if he was kidding or not.

"Why?" Aang asked, still unsure of where this was going.

"So I can make her the next Earth King…or I guess technically it would be Earth Queen wouldn't it? Oh, that would be a first," Bumi answered while mentally thinking back on all the past Earth Kings in his mental tangent.

Aang didn't hold back this time, and spit his soup all over Bumi, dropped his bowl which smashed, and dropped his jaw, all simultaneously as he started at Bumi as if he was growing a second head. "Toph…BE EARTH KING!?!" Aang yelled like Bumi just asked if it was a good idea to blow up the sun.

"Queen," Bumi answered calmly and quietly while wiping the soup off, Aang still trying to get his head together not thinking to water bend it off.

"You have to be kidding me Bumi! I knew you were crazy, but this is a full blown psychosis. Toph hates politics and everything like that, and only thinks far enough to head to decide what she wants for dinner!"

"I don't think you give her enough credit my lad. For as loud and obnoxious person she may appear to be, she is much more introspective then you may know. She hid things from you that I doubt you know about even now, and there is more to her under her mask of strength and power she values in such high regard."

"You know what's under that mask of strength Bumi? More strength and a love of tormenting her students."

"She's deeper than that; I know that for a fact."

"I would say quite the opposite. I'd say there is more to her then meets the eye, but not as much as you would like to credit Bumi. She's strong and an incredible earth bender, but Earth King?"

"Queen."

"WHATEVER! Point is I think your making a mistake here Bumi. I spent a couple of months with her, and if there is one thing Toph hates, its politics…and fire benders."

"You're wrong Aang, even if you may not know it yet."

"How do you know, you only met her once!"

"I'm a people person. Those people just don't always understand me."

"Fine, you win. I just want to be here for when this all blows up in your face so I can say I told you so."

"Likewise," Bumi finished with a small gleam in his eye.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko rubbed temples slowly as he sat in the meeting, utterly distracted with absolutely no idea what this meeting was even attempting to be about. He figured he should have tried, but couldn't detach from his thoughts a certain little girl with a blatantly obvious desire for revenge and he had no idea what he could say. Truthfully, Zuko wanted revenge too, but he knew he couldn't do it because of his job. The problem is she didn't know she couldn't do it, even though she saw what Azula was capable of, but Zuko couldn't think of anything to tell her to make her feel better. He wished more than anything that Aang was here right now, he would have something profound to say about the matter.

Suddenly Zuko chuckled to himself. _"A couple months ago I never would have thought I would be wishing the Avatar was with me,"_ he thought to himself before roughly being jerked back into reality as one of his generals loudly cleared his throat. Zuko looked around as everyone was staring at him quizzically.

"Uh sir, what's your opinion on repayment for the family of those who died at the boiling rock?" A general asked nervously not really wanting to get on Zuko's bad side.

"Oh yea, uh, right…Well while don't we take a short break shall we?" Zuko proposed to a unanimous agreement. He stepped out of the meeting room and walked down the hall to the bathroom so he could practically drown himself in the sink trying to clear his head.

"What's going on Zuko?" He heard from behind him as he lifted his face out of the sink. He turned around and found Mai leaning on the doorway, and even now he couldn't get the wandering thought out of his head of how great she looked leaning against the door, even with the concerned look in her eyes.

Zuko rubbed his eyes as he replied, "It's the girl."

"Seya?"

"Yea, I just don't know what to do. I can tell just by looking at her that she wants revenge, and I know what's going to happen if she tries. She'll end up like everyone else who's fought her," Zuko continued while turned and stared at the sink as if there was some deep revelation for him hiding at the bottom.

"All we can do is try to offer her some direction and control," Mai replied walking up behind him to put her arm around him.

But before she could Zuko turned and yelled, "So she can go and die like everyone else!?"

"No, so she can work out her anger and frustrations and try to move forward with her life. Hopefully she'll become more level headed that happens with age and experience," Mai answered softly while she grabbed Zuko's hand.

Zuko rubbed his thumb across her hand as he muttered, "The worst part is I can't tell her she's wrong because I agree with her. I want to go on a boat and stop Azula right now too, not sitting in a meeting talking about stopping her."

Mai wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Maybe we should send a message to Aang, he would know what to do about this, have some sage advice or something."

Zuko laughed as he replied, "God, it's like you're reading my mind."

Mai answered in a soft monotone, "I'll take that as a compliment."

The two separated after a while and walked out of the bathroom. Zuko went back to his meeting while Mai went to go collect Seya for her first training session. Truthfully, Mai was as on edge as Zuko was about her training, but she couldn't let him show it because she knew that she was right. Seya needed guidance because if she didn't give it to her then she would find it somewhere else from someone who couldn't teach her control and patience, or something worse that would have her do something brash and stupid. Mai refused to let the girl go and get herself killed while she could do something to stop it.

Mai strolled into the courtyard where Seya stood diligently at attention, back straight, waiting patiently. _"Maybe this won't be so bad,"_ Mai thought to herself as she walked up the girl and muttered, "Come and sit."

Seya complied silently, going to sit in the patio while Mai sat in front of the young girl and began, "The way of the blade is a deadly art, and make no mistake that it is just that, art. Various styles all have a unique signature like an artist, and you will learn from me how to utilize just one, but you must familiarize yourself with all, because you never know what's going to get thrown at you. And just as an artist can't take back the stroke of a brush, you can't take back the sting of a blade. You need control and patience to fully utilize any form of fighting."

"I guess that makes sense," Seya replied as she tried to wrap her head around this new information.

"Don't forget inner peace," Mai heard from a very familiar voice that dropped in behind her.

"Wondering when you were going to get here Suki," Mai chastised lightly while Suki sat next to her.

"Protecting your _boyfriend_ is more work then I think you appreciate," Suki answered with emphasis on boyfriend.

"How did you do that?" Seya asked amazed as Suki appeared to have appeared from nowhere. In actuality, Suki had stayed behind where Seya was sitting and then crawled on her stomach, lifted the floorboards silently behind Mai and crawled up, so it would look like she simply appeared. It was a lot of work for little results, but she felt it vital to show Seya what the results would be, hopefully giving her a little hope for what would be arduous training in the weeks ahead.

"That was just one of many tricks you will learn in the coming training," Suki answered vaguely so they could get back to the topic at hand.

"Yes, inner peace is vital. You must be calm, use your head, think, at all times, even in the midst of high paced combat. Going off your emotions is shortsighted and stupid and will get you _killed_. Do you understand?" Mai asked as she finished her little pep talk, or at least what Mai called a pep talk. Seya seemed utterly petrified, but the fire in her eyes didn't die down for a second.

"Yes," Seya replied steely, ready for whatever they could throw at her.

"Okay then, let's see what you can do," Mai stated firmly while she and Suki lead the girl to the sparring ring. Seya, to her credit, kept her cool well in the face of what she knew to be would be a sure loss. She stepped into the ring and stood across from Suki, who would be fighting her while Mai refereed, mostly because Suki was more efficient at the wooden sword then Mai was.

Seya was almost terrified of having to fight Suki, the lady who could disappear at will, or so it appeared. Mai put an arm on her shoulder and whispered, "Relax, no matter how strong an enemy appears, there is always an opening, always a flaw," before going to the center of the ring.

Mai signaled for the two to bow, and when they were done, brought her arm down and shouted, "Fight!" Mai leaped back to the edge of the ring, but appeared to be wasted effort, as the two stood across from each other in a standoff. Seya clenched the sword in two fists, while Mai one handed hers with her right and held her left behind her back, trying to give Seya some sort of chance. Seya conversely was trying to keep her knees from giving out and breathing deep to calm down.

Suddenly, Seya charged Suki and swung horizontally towards Suki's left, but Seya easily deflected the blow over her head and stabbed her lightly in her now open gut. Seya leapt back and swung low simultaneously, but Suki jumped over it and rushed forward, tapping Seya in the throat. Seya rolled away to her right, but before she could go for Seya's head, Mai shouted, "Stop!"

The two separated and Mai told her, "That is exactly what I told you _not_ to do. Don't just swing wildly, think, examine, keep you cool and find an opening. And this time Suki, don't hold back."

"Are you sure?" Suki asked wearily.

"You want to learn to fight, get ready to get some bruises, that's just how it is," Mai answered simply as the two separated. This time, Seya was calm and collected, even in the face of actual danger and fear. This time Suki charged, hoping that she might do better if she was on the defensive. Suki mimicked Seya's move of the last fight swinging horizontally. Seya deflected it similar to how Suki deflected her blow, but when Seya went for her now open stomach, Suki swung her sword down and knocked Seya's sword to the ground, then immediately rushed and jabbed her hilt into Seya's gut, this time actually doing damage, although not as much as she could. Seya doubled over as Suki stood over her, looking at Mai desperately, but Mai kept her face blank and gave Suki a curt nod. Suki quickly swiped Seya on her back with the sword, and Seya crumpled to the dirt after the blow.

Suki stepped back from the ring, knowing the fighting for the day was over. She called over her shoulder as she approached a weapon rack, "I'll give you some books to read about the Kyoshi Warriors, which you inadvertently will become one of in your training, so you better get learning!"

"And where…exactly…do you think you're going?" Suki barely heard from behind her, and she turned around startled before she put the sword back. Seya was slowly standing up, one hand gripped on her stomach. If nothing else, Seya definitely had a drive that could not be quenched. Suki stepped back into the ring and Mai had to work very hard to contain a smile.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula stepped into the local inn, and in the corner of the room sat Long Feng, eating a very modestly sized chicken with a full flagon of beer. Long Feng was in a mess. He cut his hair to shoulder length, but it was unkempt, greasy, and stringy. He had large bags under his eyes, and he had a new scar going from the bridge of his nose back along his cheek bone. His lavish green robes had now been replaced with lavish green rags. There was a new gleam in his eye, something fierce and primal that had grown next to his endless ambition, even masking it a little.

Azula strutted over to the table, sat right across from him, and grabbed a leg of the chicken to munch on, not even striving to be "lady like". The taste of meat was still something she treasured after her time in the boiling rock living off gruel, then living on the run. Azula ripped a chunk out of the leg and muttered, "Hello Long Feng."

The man's eyes grew wild as he sneered, "You dare show your face to me, after what you did? You left me a broken man to grovel with the dogs! I had nothing because of you, had to flee everywhere I went after you took my men and let Ba Sing Se fall. I was alone, lived in the streets, and risked my life to find my men back! And you, the woman who left me to die, have the gall to show up here!?"

"You got it," Azula replied as she continued to pick at the leg.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you in half with my bear hands," Long Feng growled as one of his hands squeezed his glass so hard it cracked.

"The best one I could probably give you would be you would be dead before your hand left that glass, at that would then be followed by the destruction of this entire town," Azula answered seriously, starring Long Feng down. Long Feng glared back, examining for some sign that she was lying, but found none.

"Just what do you want," Long Feng grumbled in defeat. He couldn't place it, but something was different about the princess, off. As soon as he found an opening, a weakness, he would strike harder then she could imagine.

"Good, this makes my job even easier. No matter what you did, I would get followers eventually to join me in my cause. Having you join me again just makes it easier," Azula started happily with a slight smirk.

"And what do I gain from joining you?" Long Feng asked dryly.

"Your life," Azula answered menacingly.

Long Feng shrugged off the treating tone and muttered, "Goody. Now exactly what cause are we joining?"

"Why, the cause of killing the Avatar and the Fire Lord silly," Azula cheered with a twisted grin that made Long Feng's blood run cold.

"Pass," Long Feng replied plainly.

"What, life not looking so good for you?" Azula goaded as if nothing would make her happier then to fulfill his wish.

"Quite the contrary my dear, for I currently control every aspect of this entire town, and that's just the beginning. Soon we will spread, and start a new nation, my nation," Long Feng stated with a proud gleam in his eye, as if there was no better vision of the future.

Azula burst out laughing and berated, "A new nation? Oh please, the only reason you're still here because no one with any real power besides me cares that you even exist. The second you try to grow, they will come in and stop you without batting an eye."

Listening to her giggle at his goals and shatter his dreams, Long Feng couldn't hold back anymore and in a fit of rage sent an earthen spike through the floor under the table to stab Azula in the chest, hoping to catch her off guard while she laughed so smugly.

Without a single brake in her laugh, Azula extended her new bending in her hand and held it there where the spike was about to strike. As the earth came in contact with her hand, it melted away to the floor harmlessly, leaving the spike nothing more than a piece of molten earth at her feet. With two fingers, Azula brought them down vertically in a small swipe, sending a tiny arc of the unique fire at Long Feng, who was too stunned to try to stop it.

Long Feng roared in pain as the flame cleanly cut off his left ear, leaving nothing more than a bleeding hole. He held the side of his head as he stared fearfully at the girl across from him, who had stopped laughing abruptly as her face grew serious and eyes colder then ice. Voice matching her eyes, she warned, "That's the only chance you had. Next time you cross me, it'll be your head."

Long Feng took a step back in fear and Azula did nothing to stop him. She merely deposited what was left of the bone near the chicken, stood up, wiped dirt off of her red robe she got from the previous town, and stated firmly, "Gather your men, we need to leave now."

"T-to where my lady?" Long Feng asked fearfully.

"I don't know, all I know is we need to disappear. I know I've been followed here, and I don't know how close they are to catching up to me. We need to go off the radar, somewhere where they won't find us," Azula answered calmly as she turned to step out.

"And where is that?" Long Feng dared to ask.

"I don't know," Azula whispered quietly.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Pretty good huh? Yea, lot of work, more the i'm used to considering i actually had to write, but it felt good, and i'm happy with it. Tell me if you find any errors and what you think. I need to go to bed -_-. Nite**


	15. Chapter 15: Unexpected

**Hey guys, i'm really sorry for taking so long to update. If you want to know, i could go into an elaborate and expansive detail of what i've been doing of the past month, but i can really sum it all up in three words. College... shit happens. College is more important than anything else, and that includes this. I'll try to update when i can, but if i got shit to do, i got shit to do. Oh well. I also did have a lot of trouble with this chapter, another reason why it took so long. The conversations with Bumi were a pain because i wasn't sure what i wanted to do with it. Bumi is a realatively blank slate, and deciding what to do with it was harder then i thought it would be, but i'm happy with it. If it makes you all feel better for taking so forever to get this out, this is one of my longest chapters yet, almost as long as chapter five, so you have a lot of fun to be had here. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, but i'm not making any promises. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: OMG, zombie nazi moderators. Holy shitznitz, run everyone before they eat your brainz!!!!**

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Book 4 – Air: Reconstruction

Chapter 15: Unexpected

Aang came home that night more exhausted then he could remember being in a long time, probably not since he trained with Toph. Thinking of her brought back memories of his lunch conversation he had with Bumi earlier, shaking his head at the prospect. Toph...Earth King? Or Queen as Bumi enjoyed pointing out repeatedly. Aang had a hard time not laughing at this as he stepped inside his house where Katara was in the midst of making dinner while Sokka was sitting at the table sharpening his sword with his whetstone.

Sokka perked up his head to Aang walking in and asked, "What's so funny Aang?"

"Bumi wants to make Toph Earth Queen," Aang chuckled while Sokka burst out laughing loud enough for the entire city to hear. Aang didn't really think it was _that_ funny, but was glad a sane person shared his opinion about the whole matter.

"You've got to be kidding me. Toph!? Oh man, that's hilarious. I always knew that Bumi was a little off, but I didn't think he was this far gone!" Sokka wheezed out between fits of laughter and giggles.

"20 silver coins says she flat out says no to his face," Aang proposed jokingly.

Sokka, liking the idea immensely, goaded, "40 says she says no and levels the entire palace in rage."

Katara, who had been surprisingly silent and avoiding the conversation, keeping her back turned and continuing to cook, stated firmly, "1 gold coin says she accepts."

"You're on," Sokka and Aang said simultaneously.

Katara continued to finish cooking without turning to look at them, and it bothered Aang to no end. They sat and ate, Sokka continuing to talk about Toph becoming Earth Queen and seemed to be happy to carry on the entire conversation by himself. Aang threw in a word now and then, but was more concerned with Katara's complete silence and desire to stare at her food for the entire meal. It's like she refused to look him in the eye, and it bothered him to no end. Sokka, oblivious as he was, kept right on going until they were done.

As soon as the food was done, Sokka left to go take a bath while Katara picked up the dishes, still avoiding Aang's gaze. Aang stood by the sink, watching her go back and forth from the table to the sink, and still avoiding him somehow even though he would be standing right next to her. She got all the dishes in the sink and was about to start cleaning them until Aang grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him, asking, "Hey, why have you been avoiding me?"

"I'm here now, aren't I?" She replied feebly.

"You know what I mean Katara. You've been avoiding my gaze all night. What's going on?" He pleaded seriously, lifting her head up to his gaze. Her face immediately flushed and she diverted her eyes back to the ground. Aang let go, hoping if he did that she would open up in her own way, at her own pace.

She twiddled her fingers while she starred at the ground, struggling with her words, "Well uhh...it's just this morning...it was really embarrassing and I figured that you would be mad or...something, I don't know."

"Okay, now try saying that in a manner that makes sense," Aang answered with a wide smile.

Katara slapped him playfully the shoulder and muttered, "You know what I meant..."

Aang laughed a little as he responded, "Katara, we've trained together in our underwear. I definitely wouldn't have been able to eat or carry on any form of conversation with you wearing that, but that's it."

"But it's different now... I mean before we were just friends but now it's just... I don't know, it's different," Katara muttered struggling for words.

"Katara, it's not that big of a deal," he replied lightly, trying to help her out.

"Oh, it's not," Katara whispered slightly bitterly as her eyes narrowed.

"No," Aang answered, obliviously thinking she was calming down.

"So it didn't matter at all then," she muttered venomously.

Aang caught this and immediately started freaking out, stuttering, "N-no, I mean yes, or... it's j-just-."

"I'm going to go see if Sokka's done with the bath," Katara stated with ice on her tongue and in her eyes.

"No, wait-!" Aang called before Katara slammed the door behind her, leaving Aang to bang the back of his head against the wall as he whispered to himself, "What just happened?"

At that moment, there was a loud bang down the hall, followed by Sokka walking down the hallway and opening the door to the kitchen, wearing nothing but a towel. He sat down with a grim look towards Aang and asked, "What happened?"

"Just asking myself the same question," Aang replied sorrowfully, continuing to bang his head on the wall.

"She came in, yelled at me to get out, gave me a towel, and sent me on my way. She wouldn't even give me my clothes, just slammed the door in my face when I asked," Sokka complained with annoyance, "So I ask again, what did you do?"

"Well, this morning, she uhh...she came down from upstairs wearing a....revealing gown, I guess you could say," Aang started extremely uncomfortably.

Sokka looked like he just bathed in the sewers of Omashu as he muttered, "I just had to ask, didn't I? Well, what did you do?"

"Well, I tried not to stare and told her that this was...uncomfortable for me. She was really embarrassed and ran upstairs, and I left soon after. The first time I saw her after that was just now when I came back. She said that she was really embarrassed about her mistake, and I tried to calm her down you know, told her it was no big deal and to-," Aang explained before getting cut off by Sokka.

"And there's your mistake," Sokka interrupted, with a sage and almost knowing look on his face.

"But, I mean, we would train together in our underwear! It would have made it pretty hard for me to focus on breakfast or conversation while she was wearing that, but that was the extent of my problems. Actually sort of liked the gown but-," Aang defended before being cut off again.

"Stop there, or else I'll have to go all brotherly on you, so for the sake of both of us, just stop there. The problem is, and I can't believe I'm even talking about this with you, is that she wants it to big deal for you to see her in that gown. She thinks you don't like looking at her like..._that_, as if it doesn't mean anything to you." Sokka stated while going green in the face as if with any given word he was about to be sick.

"But, I mean...of course I do but...I'm thirteen!" Aang shouted, very worried that she could even think he didn't like her that way.

"And I'm done talking about this, permanently. This is your problem, and if I hear you mention liking her like that, I'll kick your ass up and down Omashu till there's nothing left, got it?" Sokka growled, trying to stay in control of his emotions as he walked of grumbling about brotherly duties and protecting his sister.

Aang, thoroughly confused and annoyed, decided to go to bed and meditate about his problems, hopping it might help alleviate his growing headache.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang woke up as the sun was just rising above the horizon, deciding that this morning was not the time to settle this particular problem, considering Katara was probably still angry about last night. He grabbed a couple fruits and walked out the door, walking towards the palace to see how early Bumi would be up. He didn't know what he would expect to find at the palace, but he didn't expect what he did.

As he stepped in the courtyard, he heard from high above him a very familiar voice call, "Aang, get up here!"

He looked up and saw Bumi in one of the guard towers by the front gate that looked out over the city. Curious, Aang flew up there quickly to find him sitting cross legged with a small tea set next to him, looking out over the city. Still gripped with curiosity, he asked, "Hey Bumi, what are you doing up here so early?"

"Well Aang, when life is short, there really isn't a reason to sleep in is there? I've been waking up early every morning to see the sun rise over my city, watch the birth of a new day," Bumi said jubilantly.

After a bit of silence, Aang had a question he just couldn't let go, "What's it like Bumi, knowing every day could be your last, that this sunrise could be the last one you see?"

Bumi whispered softly, "It's a very sobering experience Aang, makes you look back on your life and see what you missed out on, take into account what you did right and what you did wrong. It gets you thinking about this world and what comes afterward, what you can do with the time you have left."

"You know how weird it is to see you acting serious?" Aang chuckled while Bumi joined in.

Laughing, Bumi muttered, "Yea, death will do that too. I always found it easier and more comforting to my people if I was always happy, never showed how serious our problems really were. And it deterred the Fire Nation from attacking if they thought I was a little crazy."

In the silence that followed, Bumi stated firmly, "I fear for them Aang, I fear for my people. We have a time of peace thanks to you, but you can see it in their eyes. They don't trust the Fire Nation, still bitter and looking for any excuse to fight again, still hungry for revenge. If that happened...I honestly can't think of a way we could bring about peace."

A thought nagged at Aang until he couldn't let it go and had to let it out, "So I got to know then...why Toph?"

"I need someone new Aang, someone young, someone who doesn't have these prejudices against the Fire Nation. I can't let any of my advisors rule, they all distrust the Fire Nation too much, you can see it in their eyes. Toph knows Zuko, she's been to the Fire Nation, she's seen their people, and she knows there's nothing wrong with them. Besides that, she's innately tuned in to the nature and people around her, and that guides her in the right direction."

"And you gathered all of these from meeting her...once," Aang scoffed.

"I told you, I'm a people person," he laughed as he sipped his tea.

"You know she's probably going to say no, right?" Aang replied darkly.

The smile never left Bumi's face as he answered, "Well then I'll just have to convince her otherwise when she gets here tonight." Aang stared in disbelief and Bumi just smirked to his silent question, "Air ships Aang, being used to fly people all over the world. Try to keep up here."

The pair laughed for seemingly no reason until Bumi burst out in a wide grin, "So Aang, why are _you_ up so early?"

Aang let out a long and exasperated sigh before muttering, "...it's Katara."

"Ha ha, relationship problems huh? Ahh, to be young..." Bumi laughed quietly.

"Have you ever been in love Bumi?" Aang asked seriously.

Bumi sobered almost instantly and looked into the distance as the sun shinned over Omashu, pain openly displayed on his face as he whispered, "Once..."

A very long silenced followed as the two watched the town begin to come alive as the rays of light bathed it in a golden glow. The peaceful tranquillity coming from the waking city filled the two with a sense of oneness and harmony with the world. It was almost hard to believe that a couple months ago they had all been refugees who fled the city for their lives, living alone in the wilderness. It still held a sense of surrealism to Aang that life could return to the way it was not just before the people fled, but before the war even started. When he was at his lowest points during their travels, not sure if he would actually succeed, he would wonder if things would ever be like it was before he was frozen. In hindsight, that peace was obviously a facade, but he didn't know that back then, all he knew was happiness and joy, not this world saturated with years of pain and suffering. And yet, things could never be the same because the people from back then wouldn't be the same...

"You know I'm gonna miss you, right Bumi?" Aang muttered softly.

Bumi turned and gave him a soft smile before replying, "I know Aang, and I'm going to miss you too. But hey, you're the Avatar. At least you'll be able to come and visit." With that they both chuckled a little, still watching the lives begin of the people splayed out in front of them.

Then Bumi perked up and proclaimed, "This is excellent tea! Well, let's go continue your training. Not much left to learn." Aang smiled and nodded while he followed him to the palace, carrying the tea.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Katara woke up in an extremely sour mood from the day before. This was made even worse by the fact that Aang left so early, which she thought meant he didn't want to see her. Outwardly she was aggressive and abrasive as she was cooking the eggs for breakfast. She meant to cook poached eggs, but they turned scrambled as she beat and ripped the eggs to bits with the spatula in frustration. Inside, she was depressed because she knew that she was just making things worse, but couldn't help being so frustrated.

Sokka came down and yawned, grumbling, "Hey Kat, what's for breakfast."

She knew Sokka was trying to get her in a good mood as he always did when he called her the pet name mom had for her, but she wasn't going to let it work today. "Nothing for you," she stated venomously.

"Hey, what did I do? It's Aang you're mad it!" Sokka complained while his stomach growled.

"You're a man, you just like to cause problems and run off. That's all men ever do!" Katara screamed shrilly.

"You're problem isn't about men," Sokka scoffed.

"This is all Aang's fault!" Katara continued just as loudly.

"You'd like to think it is, wouldn't you?" Sokka muttered dismissively. Instantly, he was encased in water from the sink, leaving only his face free, but even so he remained calm and stated, "Water bending isn't going to solve your problems."

Katara ground her teeth angrily, because for all Sokka liked to be emotional and sarcastic, he knew just how to dig at her and get under her skin. She growled through her teeth, "What, you're saying this is my fault?"

"Yup," Sokka answered simply.

"What do you know?" She spat at him.

"Tell me how you expected the thirteen year old kid to react who was just trying to calm you down. Wanted him to watch you lecherously, hit on you at his age, and be seduced by you? This is all about you and your frustrations about him not jumping your bones. And instead of telling someone, you just prefer to get mad and bottle it all up," Sokka jibbed, making Katara's anger deflate as she began to consent to defeat.

"You're right... I know you're right, it's just that... I don't know, when he saw me like that, I was so embarrassed but had all these thoughts and...you know I'm going to be fifteen soon. With the state of our village, that would be considered marrying age even though I'm still a year away from the legal one. But if me and Aang do go and get married, I won't be able to do anything like that until I'm _seventeen_. Seventeen and a half really, and...I don't know. You know you and Suki really don't help things either," Katara ended jokingly, but still had a very sad look on her face.

Sokka frowned in thought. If last night's conversation was bad, this was Fire Nation destroying the Earth Kingdom bad. "God, where the hell is dad when you need him," Sokka muttered sarcastically eliciting a soft chuckle from Katara, still trying to find a nice way to go about this conversation, before he finally decided on, "I don't know what to tell you Katara, but for now you just need to be patient. Maybe we can go home soon so you can talk to dad about this, because I really don't know what to say. All I do know is that I'm not the person you need to be talking about this with."

Katara sighed and let Sokka go, knowing he was right, before settling in for breakfast. Right before she took a bite, Sokka's stomach grumbled and he grumbled with it, "So, are you really not going to let me have any?" Katara laughed before passing him her plate and going to make more eggs.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aang had worked straight through lunch trying to master removing the dirt from the stone, and by the time the day was done he was able to do it left and right. He mentally cheered at the fact that he only passed out once. Bumi sat in the chair watching as Aang swiftly pulled all the earth out of the stone in one quick motion before Bumi clapped his hands and proclaimed, "Well Aang, you have mastered the art of the subtle bending. I must say you did this surprisingly fast, and I don't know weather it's because of the Avatar spirit in you, your excellent former teacher, or this tea I've been drinking."

Aang groaned aloud as Bumi complimented his tea out of context for what must have been dawning on the thirtieth time today. After five it got annoying, ten infuriating, but thirty...Aang lost ways to describe his emotions long before now. Finally, Aang snapped and shouted, "Tell me Bumi, what makes that tea so excellent?! You've been saying it all day!"

"Nothing," he answered dismissively and continued to drink. For as close Aang liked to feel he was to Bumi, he still could not figure him out to save his life. "Well Aang, the rest is going to be for you to figure out and use on your own, I've given you all the skills you'll need."

Aang let out a long sigh of accomplishment and content before bowing to Bumi. Then, as they were about to leave, Aang suddenly stopped and asked, "Hey Bumi, you think I could have a couple bits of these gems...you know for practice."

Bumi burst out laughing while using air quotes, "Sure, we'll call it 'practice' for you Aang."

Aang suddenly blushed for some reason and stammered, "N-no, it's j-just...I mean...It's n-not lik-k-ke...How did you know?"

Bumi continued to laugh the entire time, giving Aang that infernal twinkle in his eye as he gathered various crystals, like sapphires, emeralds, rubies, diamonds, ect. He put them all in a small pouch that he pulled out of his robe and handed it to Aang with each chunk of stone inside. Then, as if almost and after thought, Bumi bended one last chunk of stone that Aang couldn't recognize and handed it to Aang. Unable to resist, Aang asked, "What's this?"

Bumi broke off a chunk and popped it in his mouth before giggling merrily, "Genaminte."

Aang chuckled and shook his head as he grabbed a piece too before putting the rest in his pouch and putting the pouch in his robes. They rode back up to the palace where night had already settled. Glancing out the window and looking at something Aang couldn't see, before muttering, "Toph should be here shortly."

Aang looked from Bumi to the sky and back again before replying, "Okay, I'll bite, how can you tell?"

"The position of that star tells me its 10:30," he replied, pointing out the window at apparently one of the thousands of stars in the sky. Aang shook his head, deciding to give up and drop the subject now, content to live with the fact Bumi knew weird things before he got another head ache.

They went to the throne room where they sat in wait for her. Sure enough, within minutes the doors burst open as Toph marched in with an unreadable look on her face. She was followed by the Court Announcer, who stepped slowly with his mouth agape, trying to find his words. Surprising to Aang, she was also followed by Sokka and Katara, the former trying to contain his laughter and the later shaking her head with a small smile gracing her wonderful features. Aang felt his knees going weak as he saw that smile again...god how he missed that smile and it had only been two days. Katara opened her eyes, only to catch Aang watching her every move, which caused her cheeks to flush as she looked towards the ground in embarrassment. This caused Aang to frown slightly, but before he could do anything, Toph shouted, "Alright, what's going on?"

"Uh...sir, this is-," The announcer started, finally finding his voice before getting cut off by Bumi.

"I know who she is, you can leave now," Bumi interrupted dismissively while taking a second to study Toph. He closed his eyes for what could have only been a tenth of a second, as if in thought about something, before he popped them open with a wide grin and asked jovially, "So how was the flight? I heard the views are breath taking."

Toph rolled her eyes and laughed sarcastically, "Hilarious, so why am I here?"

"Would you like some tea?" Bumi continued as if he hadn't heard her.

Everyone expected Toph to get mad, but instead she shrugged and walked over to the little table Bumi kept by the window for tea. Everyone went to take a seat, Toph at one end, Bumi the other, and Katara purposefully walking to sit next to Aang on one side, even if she was still unable to look him in the eyes. Aang took this as a good sign and decided not to press the issue, instead watching Bumi and Toph. Toph starred at Bumi, her face plastered with a smug grin that she always wore, while Bumi smiled cheerfully, sipping his tea.

A little calmer then usual, Toph asked, "Okay, so why-?"

"Do you hate politics that much Toph?" Bumi interrupted out of no where, causing everyone else to give him curious glances until he continued, "There is a difference between not knowing proper manners, disregarding proper manners, and totally going against everything proper manners are. You Toph are the last category, so I ask, was your life that bad that you hate everything involving politics including manners that much?"

The words did not match Bumi's continued grin, and the group was silent, except for Toph who stated firmly, "Yes."

Bumi's smile widened if that was even possible as replied, "Good, I do too."

Toph was left in a state of shock as she muttered, "But you...you can't, you're-,"

"You'll find the higher up you are politically the less you have to follow the 'rules' of politics," Bumi claimed, but everyone else was still trying to wrap their heads around the concept.

"But I was taught-," Toph started before Bumi finished her statement for her.

"Wrong, plain and simple. The higher class people like to believe they act high and mighty with all their manners and customs because they're better then the people around them and it will advance them up the social ladder. You'll find that in reality they do it because the people around them expect them to, shackled by the customs of society," Bumi explained, but Toph still couldn't deny the hole in his logic.

"But you're shackled too, what makes you so-," Toph began before being cut off once again.

"What society expects of you and what you think society expects of you are not the same. Society would have me be proper and dignified, using upper class customs and language, or that's what a majority of people believe anyway. But just because you think something different from the majority doesn't make it wrong. I believe society expects me to lead and protect my people, and always have their benefits and best interests in mind. As long as I do that, I don't think people will care if I talk the way I feel like and act how I see fit, and I've yet to be proven wrong," Bumi continued, and it's as if all their minds clicked at once.

Toph was stunned. She knew when she met him that this man was an amazing person, but she didn't know the level of brilliance he possessed. In one swift motion, he had dispelled all of her beliefs her parents had pushed on her. Taking the silence to mean he should continue, Bumi began, "You know Toph, even though you can't see it, your clear eyes say more then you think they do. Right now, I can see in them the years you spent alone, starving for love and attention in a house that didn't recognize you for who you are and what you wanted. I see scars that run deep and an incredible weight of sadness. I understand what you went through, more then you may know. Being a prince came with its own set of weights and circumstances not so different from yours. It lead to me becoming a prankster and doing reckless things just to spite my family. They would become so mad that they would lock me in a dungeon, saying 'If you want to act like a delinquent, we'll treat you like one.' I would retreat into my own mind and thoughts, and that would probably contribute to me being who I am today. No one wanted to be friends with me, I was shunned because of how shameful I acted and how weird I talked, and eventually I got fed up with it, rejecting my birth right and left. It took one very special person to teach me the errors of my ways and change my life back to the path of kingship." During this entire speech, Bumi kept that masking grin plastered on his face, but during the last sentence, he faltered and gave everyone a glimpse at a pain he kept buried deep inside.

Aang was shocked. He didn't know any of this when he came on his visits to Omashu, he just thought he found a fun loving kid who liked to goof around. He had no idea he had any problems like this, he always hid behind his smile. "Bumi...why didn't say anything?" Aang asked in a state of pure shock.

"Aang, you were one of the few friends I had. I didn't want to trouble you with my problems, I wanted to have as much fun as I could in the time we would have. I would even behave myself during the times you would be on your way so I was sure to be able to spend time hanging out with you," Bumi chuckled as he thought back to some of the happy times they shared together.

Still trying to piece together all of this new information, Aang had to know, "So who was his person who...?"

A long silence followed where Bumi seemed lost in thought and memories before finally responding softly, "She, Aang, is a story for another time."

Toph, during this entire time, had been rendered speechless. She couldn't take in all of this information all at once, that she wasn't alone in her torment, that someone understood her, that her beliefs of how she was supposed to ask in upper class society were wrong. Her brain had shut off, leaving only one last thought that kept running on repeat, begging her to ask, "What...what do you want from me?"

Bumi burst into a smile before replying, "I want you to be the next ruler here in Omashu, the first ever ruling Earth Queen. You don't have to make your decision now if you don't want to. You can stay here as long as you want, and we can train and chat and you can observe how I run things and make your decision when you're ready."

Toph's hands shook as she held her tea in place. Her mind was a total blank now. She stood slowly still shaking and muttered, "I'll need to think about this," before stepping out and walking away. Katara gave Aang one pleading look as she squeezed his hand before standing and following her.

Aang kept watching Bumi, too stunned to even respond to Katara. He watched his tea as if it held somewhere in the brown waters held the answers he wanted, the key to get the gears in his mind to start turning again. He was still at a loss for words of what to possibly say to Bumi. He was baffled at how he could keep sitting there smiling while sipping tea. "This is fantastic tea," Bumi exclaimed as they sat there in total silence.

Aang let a strained smirk grace his features that looked more like a grimace then anything as he muttered, "I'm sorry I got frozen Bumi and left you."

Bumi chuckled and replied, "Its how it had to be Aang. Fate has a funny way of weaving its webs sometimes. But hey, I'm here to see you now, aren't I?"

"Yea, I guess..." Aang whispered before the doors to the hall burst open and messenger walked over to their table.

"Avatar, we have received a message for you from the Fire Lord," he relayed as he passed on the message before turning to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay Bumi?" Aang whispered as he stood to leave without looking at the message, still shocked. He turned and began to walk out, followed closely by Sokka who stayed silent.

"Good night Aang, I hope you sleep well," Bumi replied as he sat and sipped tea, watching the stars in the sky.

Aang and Sokka didn't say a word the entire way back from the palace. When they walked back inside their house, Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder and gave him a quick nod before turning and going upstairs. Aang decided to go and sit with Appa for a while before going to bed. He sat on the bison's sleeping head while he stared at the stars, trying to sort out his thoughts and feelings. He still had yet to read the message from Zuko, but at the moment, he really didn't care, it could wait. He heard light footsteps coming from the house and he didn't even need to look to see who it was, he would recognize those footsteps anywhere. He remained silent as she climbed up and sat next to Aang, this time wearing a much more modest robe. She wrapped her arms around her legs and curled into a small ball as she sat next to Aang, trying to work up the courage to say something.

"Listen Aang, I-," She started before Aang wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him, resting his head atop of hers.

"Can we not talk now?" He whispered softly as she felt something wet drop on her cheek. She merely nodded as she curled into his chest and tried to comfort him in his time of confusion and pain.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Seya had worked hard yesterday on her first day of training. She sparred until noon when they took a brake for lunch. Seya began to study the first of many books she would be reading entitled _The Basics of Combat: A Guide to Beginner Styles, Weapons, and Tactics_. The book was well over a thousand pages long. She only had a two hour brake for study until they sent her out to do physical exercises and basic form practices. They didn't stop until well into the night. Seya then spent more time studying, and by the day candles that told time, she had stayed up two hours past midnight. After that, she couldn't keep her eyes open and her battered body submitted to much needed rest.

What Seya wasn't expecting was to be roughly shaken awake at the crack of dawn by one of the Kyoshi Warriors. The girl only told her she had to be ready in the courtyard in a half hour. Seya rushed into the bath then threw on some loose clothes for working out in that would cover her arm before grabbing food in the kitchen. She just barely made it out in time the allotted time, but she made it none the less. Suki was there to meet her, already prepared with make-up and her outfit. Seya's jaw dropped as she asked in surprise, "How are you ready so early?"

Suki smirked as she answered, "Well, it could be because some people don't stay up until the middle of the night reading. Or, it could be because I got stuck with the last night watch shift, so I've been up for the past two hours anyway."

"Okay, so why am I up this early?" Seya grumbled, still very agitated.

"Exercises and then even more exercises, and you can start off by running thirty laps around the courtyard," Suki answered merrily.

Seya blanched. The courtyard was two hundred yards long and one hundred wide. She stammered, "Y-you can't be serious!?"

"Hey, that's taking it easy because it's your second day. No complaining or it goes up to fifty, so get running," Suki barked. Seya needed no more incentive and went off running. Inwardly, she was happy to be doing this before the sun began to beat down on her, but she still didn't like the task. She tried to make use of this time to go over her material she studied yesterday, but by the seventh lap her mind began to blur and she couldn't focus on anything more then running and the burning pain in her thighs.

She didn't stop until Suki grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She registered Suki telling her something, but her mind was too hazy to catch any of it. Suki shook her a little and yelled, "Hey, I said snap out of it! Don't ever let yourself get caught up in your own mind; you have to always be thinking, always observant. Now take a short brake, and drink some water _slowly_. You vomit it up, you don't get more."

Seya didn't have to be told twice as she collapsed backwards on the ground, taking a swing from the canteen. Suki smirked a little as she said, "Live it up while you can, the training only gets tougher from here. I take it you only had a small breakfast today?"

Seya, lacking the energy of voice and her throat feeling as dry as a desert, merely nodded. "Good, from now on, you'll eat five to six small meals a day. A heavy stomach makes it harder to work. You'll only eat meats and fruits, they're better for building a strong body. And I want you to only drink water, lots of it. No sugars or grains anymore, we're going for little to no body fats."

Seya groaned softly, but Suki's face remained as impassive as the weather, and Seya had learned early not to argue with that face. She finished off the rest of the canteen and sat up, wondering what other tortures lay ahead. Suki told her to follow and lead them to the guard's gym. Half of it was dedicated purely to fire bending and the guards honing their skills. The other side had an assortment of contraptions for training their bodies. What followed after arriving were a gruelling series of stretches (which she thought should be renamed contortions), chin-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, squats and basic weight training. She felt like she had been working forever, although in reality it had been two hours. The entire time, she was told to keep drinking water.

The guards watched the little girl work in awe. One of them muttered how he had a daughter older then her who he wished had her focus. Another asked what she was doing training at such an age. A more foolish one whispered to his friend, "What's so great about those Warriors anyway?"

His friend next to him slapped him upside the head and seethed, "Idiot, I'd rather not be bruised today, so shut it."

Suki smirked at this, but kept quite for the Seya's sake. She knew how fast word would travel about why she was staying at the palace no matter how much Zuko tried to keep Azula's exploits from getting out. The truth always gets out, simple human curiosity. After Seya finished her third set of twenty sit-ups, she collapsed back on the ground panting. Suki gave her a small smile and muttered, "Go take a brake on the bench, drink some water; I'll be back in a little." She had probably worked her a little more then she should have, but it wouldn't kill her.

Seya collapsed on the bench while taking a very long sip from her canteen. It was only then that she realized how many of the guards were watching her. She might have felt a little creped out if she had the energy to feel anything besides the fire consuming her whole body. She barely registered when one of the guards came and sat next to her. Although she did register when he asked, "So, are you the girl the Fire Lord took in?"

Seya gave the man a curt nod, still drinking from the water. His face grew darker as he continued, "So you're the girl orphaned by Azula."

Seya stiffened and starred deeply at the floor as if it had deeply wronged her. The man gave a drawn out sigh as he muttered, "Its okay, you don't have to answer. Just thought you should know you're not alone. She killed my brother at the boiling rock."

Seya grimaced at the irony of the statement as she whispered, "Quite the opposite actually. I'm all alone."

The older man rested a hand on her shoulder as replied, "That's not what I saw. The only way those kinds of wounds heal is if you open yourself to others. Just remember you'll always have someone here to talk to."

With that he stood up and left her as Suki came back. She motioned for Seya to follow her and lead her out of the gym while giving her some fruit to munch on. Seya kept think about what the man had said, but he didn't stop the feelings of loneliness. Even now, she kept thinking on how different life had been a week ago. The only thing that kept her going was her consuming need for revenge that she couldn't stop working towards, because she was afraid what would happened if she stopped and let herself think. _"I'm not going to cry. I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore, I need to be stronger,"_ she thought to herself.

Suki glanced over her shoulder and saw Seya studying the ground intently and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine," She said in an expressionless monotone to rival Mai's.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Suki told her with concern. Seya didn't respond as they kept on walking in silence. Suki let it drop as she left Seya in one of the many training rooms that lined the palace. Inside was Mai, who had an assortment of throwing blades for them to practice with. Suki gave Mai a serious look that meant they needed to talk later before leaving to go take a nap.

"So, am I going to learn how to throw knives now?" Seya asked.

"Not yet, we're going to start with stars. More points make it much easier to throw for beginners, easier to lodge in your target. Here, take some and watch what I do," Mai explained as she took one and threw it faster then a blink of an eye, embedding the star dead center of the straw target.

Seya stood in front of the straw mat and threw the star as hard as she could. It ended up embedding itself in the wall to her right. Seya scratched her head from embarrassment while Mai tried to suppress a smile. "This time, try aiming," Mai advised while she passed her another star.

Seya held the star in front of her for a couple seconds before drawing her arm back and throwing it. The star still flew away from all the targets, but it at least went relatively forward this time, sailing past the targets and into a wall.

"Well, that was better...I guess," Mai muttered while she stepped next to Seya and instructed, "Okay, stand with your right foot forward. Now watch my arm movement. Start up by your neck and go across the chest area, keeping the momentum going until your arm is practically straight in front of you. Keep the star level with the ground at all times. If you want more force, step forward slightly with your right foot to get more force in the throw. You want to release right before your arm crosses in front of your target, and remember to add an extra flick to your wrist to give it added momentum and stability, it'll help it fly straighter."

Seya followed the instructions as she tried one more time. This time, the star grazed the edge of the straw target, just barely making contact with it. Mai sat back against the wall and stated, "The rest is practice, just keep going."

She spent the next three hours practicing repeatedly, but seemed to be making little improvements. Her throws seemed loosely aimed at best, but looked more random than anything. The entire time, Mai was silent watching her throw. By the end, Seya was frustrated and shouted, "What am I doing wrong?!"

Mai rested her hand on her shoulder as she told her, "Don't worry, you'll get a feel for it eventually. Let's stop for now and go get something to eat."

"What time is it?" Seya asked.

"It's about two in the afternoon. After we're done eating, Suki's going to take over again with your training again," Mai continued.

Seya groaned as she followed her out, remembering the training she had already experienced with Suki. Mai chuckled a little as she replied, "Come on, it can't be that bad."

"No, it's worse," she grumbled as she followed Mai, leaving them both laughing quietly. They went into the kitchens where they could sit and eat in peace. They ate in silence the entire time, Seya studying her small meal with disdain and Mai studying her.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked after a while.

"I was just thinking about how this time a week ago I had been helping my dad pick crops. Now everything is different," Seya whispered quietly.

Mai stood up and sat next to the girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulder while trying to comfort her in a soft monotone and expressionless face, "You know I'm here for you, right?"

When she first came here, Seya was confused by her stoic manner, but she realized that the actions mattered more then the words with Mai. Seya leaned against the girl and nodded softly while sipping her water. They finished eating in resumed silence, but without moving from that position.

When they were done, Mai took Seya to the room reserved for the Warrior's practices. It was filled with training dummies, punching bags, wood poles with spokes coming out, sparring mats, and what appeared to be a mass of planks of wood tied to ropes hanging down from the ceiling. Mai gave her a small wave before turning to go help Zuko with the endless paperwork. Seya sat down on the mat, waiting for Suki. It didn't take long for her to hear a soft thump behind her which represented Suki dropping in on her from the ceiling. She turned as Suki sat down and told her, "Good, you're getting better."

"I don't really feel any different though," Seya grumbled.

"You will, just give it a little bit. Now today, we'll be running through basic stances and combat of the Kyoshi Warriors. Our style is based off using your opponents force against them which is best suited for a female fighter because we're naturally weaker then men. It's why all the Warriors are women; it was designed for women in mind. With this style, you'll be able to stand your ground against almost any opponent. We're even starting to expand our style with pressure point based attacks to disable our enemies, even benders. But that will come later when you get better. Now, follow my movements," Suki explained as she stood up and went through a basic pattern that focused on stretching the limbs for combat.

After that, Suki explained some of the weaker points on the body to attack, like the sides of the abdominal region, the legs and knees, the neck, the armpits and so on. Seya then practiced punching and kicking the target dummy repeatedly, before moving up to the wood poles where she had to attack certain spokes in rapid succession, circling around the pole while still maintaining proper footing. Anytime she would lose balance or focus, Suki would trip her and pin her, before letting her go and ordering her to start over. The worst was when Suki had her stand in the center of a ring of wood planks hanging from the ceiling. Suki told her the goal was to not get hit by the wood, and slowly pulled the boards back and let them swing at her, going around one by one as she would punch and kick them away. It started off with two, which was easy enough to manage, three became a little more difficult, four was hard work, but by the time it went up to six, she was getting hit constantly, always losing focus of which ones were about to hit her. When she got hit particularly hard by a board in the back of the head and became dazed, Suki told her to stop. Frustrated, she shouted, "That was impossible!"

Suki smiled softly as she muttered, "Watch." With that, Suki jumped into the middle of the boards and began to strike them all so swiftly Seya couldn't keep track of her hands and feet. She would punch and kick with amazing speed, turning and twirling, never once tripping up. The boards never even got close to touching her. She then jumped out and smiled at her, making it all seem so easy that it was second nature, which to her it was.

"That was amazing," Seya whispered in quiet amazement.

Suki rubbed her head playfully as she reassured the girl, "Don't worry, you'll get there eventually. We'll take it slow, one step at a time."

Seya frowned while she fixed her hair, but Suki kept her smile as she led her over to the sparring match. Suki than ran through a series of instructions of what to do if an opponent did something, a particular kind of kick or punch, pointing out the openings to attack them from and showing Seya her own flaws as she attacked. It was a lot of information to take in, but Seya did fairly well the entire time. By the time they were done with all her training, it was dawning on six, and Suki told them they were done for the day as she gave her some fruit to eat with her.

Seya didn't talk much, preferring to rest on the ground while she ate, lost in her own thoughts. But Suki couldn't stand it much longer and had to ask a question that had been bugging her, "What do you plan to do after all this training?"

Suki knew the answer, but felt this was something they needed to talk about. Seya muttered icily, "I'm going to find Azula."

"You do know that neither Mai nor myself could fight her, right?" Suki told her softly, hopping this would bring her back into reality.

"Then I'll keep training after I'm done here until I am," Seya stated forcefully that told Suki she wouldn't be swayed.

"And what will you do when you find her," Suki inquired quietly.

"I'm going to kill her," Seya answered as her face contorted in rage.

"Not with that thinking your not," Suki replied cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Seya asked angrily.

"When you do find her, you need to stay calm and collected. Emotions will get you killed," Suki explained, but Seya was infuriated at the thought.

"And how am I supposed to do that after what she did!?" She screeched as tears began to well in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"By working through your emotions, not bottling them up," Suki answered softly as she rested her hand on the girls.

But Seya yanked it away as she growled, "I'm done for the day."

"If you're going to avoid talking about it, then do something productive and jog around the palace until sun down, that's an order," Suki barked. Seya did not acknowledge her, but Suki knew she would do it anyway if it would make her stronger. Feeling drained, the warrior went to go find Mai, she had to talk with her.

She found her sitting with Zuko in the study, buried in piles of papers. They didn't even register her existence as she dropped down in front of them, too lost in their work. She cleared her throat loudly and they both jerked their heads up to look at her in surprise. Zuko was a little stunned that he had been sneaked up on so easily, but Mai got her voice back and asked, "What's up?"

"It's Seya. I'm afraid to train her while she carries all these feelings of anger and resentment. It's going to get her killed, and it's unhealthy for her to bottle up all these emotions and not talk about it," Suki explained to them.

"Told you so," Zuko muttered quietly, but Mai took no notice as she addressed Suki.

"I know, we need to get her to talk, but she won't open up," Mai answered Suki just as perplexed.

Zuko chuckled a little as he told her, "Yea and you're the master at opening up."

Mai elbowed him playfully in the side but didn't deny the comment. Zuko sighed as he continued more seriously, "Aang should get here in a couple days, just continue you with your training plan and wait for him to talk with her, see what he can do. Tell her to meditate tonight too, maybe it'll help her get through this on her own."

The other two didn't really want to let this go until Aang got here, but didn't see how they had a choice in the matter, so decided to follow Zuko's advice and let the problem sit on the wayside for now. Suki left to take a nap while the other two continued their work in relative silence, only talking when there was some paper Mai felt Zuko needed to read.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Azula waited outside the inn as all the Dai Lee gathered themselves before her. It would soon be time to leave, and she would have to do it before they were discovered by the hundreds of spies tracking her. It didn't take long for them to arrive as Long Feng stood next to her and explained, "That's everyone."

"Not as much as I would have hopped for, but it'll have to do. Alright everyone, I want you all to go around and gather up every citizen in the entire town and bring them here," Azula ordered, while the Dai Lee nodded and vanished.

In a matter of minutes, they had the small population of a little over one hundred that inhabited the small town in the market square in a nice group. They were ringed by the Dai Lee to prevent any escape. The men looked angry and defiant, while the women and children were terrified. The Dai Lee shifted back and forth uncomfortably, unsure of what she wanted.

Azula stood in front of them all and shouted, "My offer is simple, every bender joins me or everyone dies. Those are your only options, and you only have a minute to make up your mind."

The people shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do, braking out in quiet conversations. One of the men called out, "This is all some elaborate joke, right?"

Azula walked over to the man and in one swift motion melted the man away completely in a cone of her new bending; only leaving behind a charred skeleton and the foul smell. Everyone looked positively terrified, including the Dai Lee, as she shouted out, "Forty seconds, better move quickly."

Men and women of all ages stood up and began to huddle next to her with varied expressions. Many were positively terrified, others were angry, but there were a couple that eyed her with envy. These would be the loyal ones; these are the ones she really wanted. The others would betray her as soon as they got a chance.

As soon as they were done, she selected those few and a couple of the stronger looking ones and had them stand off the side. The crowd seemed to calm down now that she had what she wanted, that is until Azula broke out her twisted grin as she proclaimed, "The rest of you are useless garbage, who's only purpose is to be purged!"

Fear gripped them all, and before any could make any attempt at defence, Azula was already on the move, running past person after person and dispensing them in various horrific methods with her bending. Throats slashed, abdomens slashed open, bodies split in half from every possible angle, holes burnt through chests, beheading, melting off limbs and opening up vital arteries. A couple tried fighting back, but they were the people who were charred to skeletal remains like the first person she killed. She danced like a graceful god of death and destruction. And it was all done in a matter of seconds. Those she had chosen to live looked in horror at the remains of what had been brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, co-workers, everyone they had known... gone.

Then Azula slowly bend over each person that still had flesh intact and etched on their chests, "Azula was here." The most terrifying part to the on lookers was the fact she was covered from head to toe in the blood of those she had just slain. She was a demon, the devil incarnate, and they were slaves to her and her twisted smile. They knew that whatever choice might have existed didn't any longer. If they did anything against her, she would find them and kill them, plain and simple.

Still covered in blood, she stood in the center of it and commanded, "Every new recruit pair up with a Dai Lee agent. You are to gather as many supplies as you can before leaving the town in any direction you see fit. Travel in that direction for a week before turning and heading to the southern peninsula town of Lu Tin. I expect you all there in a month's time. If you think you see anyone remotely suspicious, kill them. Failure is not an option."

Everyone walked away in a daze without a word. They didn't even talk to the people who they paired up with; they just found someone and left together. Azula walked over to Long Feng and told him, "Go gather our supplies and meet me by the river. We're leaving together too, understand?"

He didn't say a thing, just stared at her in wide eyed fear, which caused Azula's grin to widen more then seemed humanly possible as she left him to his own devices. She needed a bath terribly.

* * *

**Alright, awesomeness. Doing Bumi's past was REALLY hard, and i revised that section about twelve times before i finally got something i was happy with, but i hope you all liked it. I know there are a couple details about Seya that some people pointed out in their reviews, a couple things they were confused about. Don't worry, more will be explained next chapter about her, and things will start to come togeather. I loved Azula's part in this though, it was amazing. I'm really loving her as a villan and forming her as a character, watching her slowly lose her mind and sanity. anyway, please review. i will say the more reviews i get, the sooner i'll update. motivation is really helpful. At a minimum, don't expect anything until next weekend though, because i got tests and work to do this week. see ya next time :)**


	16. THIS IS NOT THE NEXT CHAPTER yet

hey, i know i owe you guys an explination as to why it's been a couple months since i updated, and thankfully for me, it turns out to be a really really simple explination. up until about early december from my last post i was doing school stuff, getting ready for finals and what not. after that, it was family vacation for christmas and i had planned on doing a LOT of writing. but, as fate and my luck would have it, my laptop broke; motherboard fried to be specific. since then, i've spent a lot of time getting that fixed, and then doing more school work (by hand unfortunately, pain in the ass that is), it's just been hell in a hand basket. luckily, my parents finally just decided to say fuck it and got me one of those sweet little three hundred dollar notebooks which, ironically, we spent less on that then we did trying to fix my old piece of shit laptop. hopefully i'll have something for you guys in two weeks, i got to remember what i wanted to write and think about the next chapter and how i want that to play out. SORRY FOR THE WAIT! D:


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